Betrayal of the Best Kind
Hurt
By Draco664
A/N - I usually don't put notes at the start of a chapter, but this chapter is rated R, and should be read only by those who can handle it.
Hurt
With Cho's hair gripped tightly in Harry's hand, the pair arrived back in the London palace. Harry looked down at the young woman who had caused him so much pain that evening on the cliff top. He had tried to not think of her since, well no, that was a lie. What he had tried not to think about was his feelings for her. He had often thought of her, of how he would take his revenge on her, make her pay for how she had hurt him. In the dark recesses of his mind, Harry had fantasised about what he would do to her if she was in his power.
Looking down at the beautiful girl lying helplessly in his arms, images of the horrors he witnessed before transporting to Hogsmeade filled his mind, and he knew he was not capable of doing those things to her. Fantasising about revenge was one thing, it gave him a plausible excuse for his continued service to Voldemort. Now he had her, what would Voldemort make him do to her? Harry gave Cho to a pair of elves and instructed them to take her to his room, and shackle her to the table.
The thought of watching any of that done to Cho, or even doing it to her, made him dry retch.
As Harry waited for hours for the return of Voldemort and the Death Eaters, he went over in his mind what he should do with Cho, both to convince the Dark Lord of his service, and to give her the best chance of survival.
He, Wormtail and four other wizards waited the return of their master. One of the wizards, the one sent as Wormtail's bodyguard, hadn't returned. Harry did not find this surprising. Since all they had been sent to do was find if an animagus had been spying on them, the loss of a potential Death Eater would not sit well with Voldemort.
It was almost sunrise when, between heartbeats, Voldemort and his Death Eaters appeared. One glance told the story of the evening. Nowhere near as many wizards returned as left for the raid. Not one of the Death Eaters who returned from the raid was unscathed. Voldemort was in a rage. All followers were dismissed quickly, the Death Eaters summoned to council.
With a sigh of relief, Harry made his way back to his room. If things had gone poorly on the raid, it may be some time before his 'guest' was entertained.
Cho groggily opened her eyes, and dreamily wondered if she was blind. As her senses returned, she realised she was not blind, but in a dark room. Small, four walls. Low ceiling. Some metal objects on the walls, she could tell by the slight gleam on the metallic edges.
Cho tried moving, but was obviously restrained in her current position. Starting to panic, Cho thrashed about, trying with all her adrenaline-aided might to break her bonds. Finally, she ceased her struggles, a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead mute testament to her efforts.
How long she was in there Cho had no idea. It felt like days, but the portkey in her stomach had not yet activated, so less than twelve hours had passed since taking it. Cramps in her legs and shoulders distracted her from her thoughts.
Finally, like a vertical sunrise, a thin sliver of light appeared in one wall, slowly widening to reveal an open doorway, the light temporarily blinding her sensitive eyes. A short, well toned man stood in the doorway. Cho's heart began beating wildly again, she started thrashing against her bonds.
The man came closer, and Harry's familiar voice commanded, "Stop it! Stop panicking."
Slowly her eyes became adjusted to the light, and she could make out Harry, standing over her bound form.
"Harry! Please let me go."
Harry shook his head. "I'm sorry Cho, but I cannot do that." He looked out the door, checking that they were alone. "Do you have a portkey? Anything to get you back to Hogwarts?"
Cho bit her lip, weighing up her options. Harry noticed her hesitation, and relaxed. "Good. How do you activate it? Is it in your robes?" he asked, patting her down, checking the pockets of her robes.
"I didn't say I had anything."
"You didn't say no immediately. You were wondering whether or not I could be trusted." Harry paused as he finished rummaging through her pockets. "There's nothing here."
"Harry, please come back with me, please. Don't stay here, don't abandon your friends, and the people who love you."
He sighed, and brilliant green locked with dark brown eyes. "Not yet, Cho. There is still a lot I can do. I know where we are, I'm learning a lot. With tonight's debacle, Voldemort will be relying on his remaining underlings more than ever, enough so that he could forgive me if I show some compassion to a 'guest'."
Cho swallowed. "You, you're spying on him?"
Harry looked at her with a surprised expression, then looked down and shook his head in dismay. "Bloody Dumbledore. I told him something the night I went with Voldemort. If he had told Si-, someone about it, they would have known I'm spying on him," Harry stopped, looking at Cho, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Cho raised her perfect eyebrows. "Sirius? Your godfather?"
It was Harry's turn to be surprised. "You know about my godfather?"
Cho nodded. "We are working together to try to bring you back."
His green eyes narrowed. "Don't," he said flatly. "I'll make my own way back, in my own time, on my own terms. When what needs to be done, is done."
"Harry, please?" Cho begged.
He shook his head. "No. This needs to be done. It is not open for discussion. Now, how are you going to get back?"
"I can't tell you."
Harry didn't look upset. "Fair enough. Can you leave at any time, or is there a set time?"
Cho again swallowed, and took a gamble. "A set time."
"Damn. When? How long?"
"About noon."
Harry's shoulder's slumped. "Damn, still six more hours." He looked into her eyes once more. "You are going to be tortured, Cho. There is nothing I can do to stop that. I may even be asked to torture you. In six hours, you could be broken."
Cho started trembling. "Please, Harry! Untie me, let me go, I can hide until I get taken back!"
"I'm sorry, Cho." he turned and left, plunging the room into darkness once more.
"Harry!" Cho screamed. "Harry, please! Come back!"
It was a dismayed Harry Potter who entered his luxurious bedroom, closing the door on his bound and terrified girlfriend. He raced over to the potion desk, and faster than he had ever before, brewed a potion. It was a simple recipe, and within an hour, he had finished. Harry then cleaned up the evidence of its creation. He took the single dose he had created and carried it into the torture chamber.
Cho had tear stains on her cheeks, and looked up in fear at the door opening. Seeing Harry, she broke down and cried in relief. "Harry, please. let me go, please." she whispered, her throat raw from her shouting.
Harry moved to her side and held the glass to her lips. "Drink this, it will mask pain for a full day."
Quickly, Cho gulped down the vibrant purple potion. It settled in her stomach, and immediately felt a numbing effect flow through to her extremities. She calmed, and took a deep breath. "Will that stop me feeling pain?" she asked.
Harry sadly shook his head, "It will only make pain less intense, you won't feel minor injuries, and the pain from harsh wounds is lessened. The potion is given to pregnant witches by medi-wizards to make labour pains more bearable. It is very quick and easy to make; I had to make something quickly, I didn't have time to make a real pain killer."
Cho nodded in thanks. The numbing feeling made her feel calmer.
Harry left briefly to remove any remaining evidence of his creation. Finishing his cleaning, Harry grabbed his latest magical parchment creation. Casting the final few charms took him about an hour. Writing a short note on the parchment, he then crushed it into a small crumpled ball. He slipped it into his pocket, and went back to Cho.
She had managed to calm down, and compose herself. "What time is it?"
"Still over four hours til midday." Harry moved closer and drew his wand. "Forgive me, Cho. This may hurt a bit."
Cho fearfully backed away as far as her bonds would allow. "Harry, what are you doing?" she squeaked.
Harry didn't answer, he just placed his wand against her robes and muttered a quiet curse. Cho gasped, and felt an aching warmth spread through her side. She looked at him questioningly.
"You should have a large bruise there now. I need to give you more of these, it will look like I have treated you exactly as Voldemort would expect."
Cho nodded, and relaxed. "Getting those is... uncomfortable." He looked at her, eyebrows raised. "But bearable." she continued.
He nodded, and cursed her several more times. Finally, he placed the tip of his wand against her left cheek. Muttering the curse one last time, Cho at last cried out at the sharp, tingling pain of thousands of capillaries bursting under her skin. Her cheek swelled and coloured.
Both jumped at the door to his room bursting open and Voldemort charged in, flanked by two masked Death Eaters. Cho's face paled, and she screamed. Harry spun and struck her across the undamaged side of her face with his fist, shocking her to silence. A thin trail of blood trickled down from the corner of Cho's mouth.
"I see you have already started to enjoy yourself, Harry." Voldemort said, face still livid. "But I need you to tell me what happened at Hogsmeade. Why did everyone not return from such an easy mission?"
"All but Wormtail's bodyguard returned, my Lord. I understand my godfather was there, and probably recognised him. I was not with him at the time, but I assume he told his guard to protect him. My godfather would have made short work of him otherwise."
The Dark Lord's eyes blazed with an inner fire. "You presume too much. Wormtail has had twelve years more experience as a wizard than your pitiful godfather."
"He spent those twelve years as a rat, my Lord. Hardly the best way to increase your skills."
Voldemort's breathing began to slow. Never taking his eyes of Harry, he allowed his temper to finally cool. After several unblinking minutes, a smile spread across his face.
"As always, you are the voice of calm and reason, Harry." He turned to one of his masked henchmen. "Goyle, go and find Wormtail, tell him I want to see him in my chambers. Tell him that his version of recent events has some... inconsistencies."
The larger Death Eater bowed, and left. Voldemort turned to Cho for the first time. Taking in her swollen cheek and bleeding mouth, he said, "Harry. You started having fun without me. I'm disappointed in you."
"My apologies, my Lord. You were distracted upon your arrival."
The laconic grin never left Voldemort's face. "You are forgiven my boy, just don't do it again. Now, where were you?"
"I have checked her clothing and body for any magical items, no portkey was found. I do not know enough to be positive that she doesn't have anything though, would you please check for anything I may have missed?"
Voldemort smiled at Harry, then turned and nodded to his remaining Death Eater. The Death Eater extracted his wand, and passed it over Cho several times. Finally he shook his head.
The Dark Lord gave Harry an indulgent smile. "It would appear that you performed your search in a satisfactory manner. What were you doing before I arrived?"
An evil smile crossed Harry's features. "I was saving something rather special for you to watch, my Lord. Please bear with me a moment." Harry left the room and walked over to his library. Selecting a particular book, a slim, ancient volume, he headed back to the room where Cho was bound. "I found a rather nice curse in here, it was used a few thousand years ago to brand criminals."
"A branding curse is simple enough, why not just use that?" asked the remaining Death Eater. Harry recognised the dulcet tones of Lucius Malfoy.
Voldemort held up a hand, and gestured for Harry to continue.
"This curse was used by the ancient Egyptians, by the Royal Dispenser of Justice. He had a phoenix as a familiar. Should a criminal with a brand be found innocent after the fact, there was only one way to remove the scars. The Royal Dispenser of Justice used the tears from his phoenix to remove the scars."
Voldemort's features darkened. "That fool Dumbledore has a phoenix."
Harry nodded. "Yes, my Lord. But the tears must both be willingly shed for the person who gave the brand, not the branded person, and then willingly given to the person branded. While Fawkes is likely to shed tears for her, he is unlikely to willingly shed those tears for me. And after trying to trap me, I have no desire to give her anything. In order to become whole again, she would have to convince a phoenix to give tears to the person who betrayed its master, difficult in itself, then convince the person who hates her to forgive and cure her."
A slow, malicious grin appeared on the Dark Lord's face. "My boy!" he said to Harry. "You really are developing a taste for psychological torture, aren't you?"
Harry returned the smile. "Better than physical torture, since you can do it over and over again."
Voldemort nodded. "By all means, please continue."
Cho had been rendered speechless by the sudden change in Harry. "Please, Harry, no..."
Harry struck her across the face again. "Shut up, bitch."
Cho desperately tried again. "Harry, you don't have to do this. I've forgiven you. Please! I love you!"
Harry stopped, his eyes shining. He shook his head, and the compassion she was in his emerald eyes disappeared. "You. You have forgiven me? What on earth makes you think that this is about your feelings for me?"
"I didn't mean to say those things at the lighthouse."
"For someone who didn't mean it, you sounded very sincere at the time." Harry's voice became harder. "I told my Master when I first arrived that I would like to 'entertain' you here."
Tears started streaming from her dark, almond eyes. Cho shook her head rapidly. "Harry, no. I didn't mean it, I promise! I was so hurt."
"You were hurt?" Harry shouted. "Which of us spent months in Azkaban? Which of us spent months being guarded by our worst fear? Which of us has had the entire world turn against us for nothing?" Harry's face was a mask of pure rage.
Cho was shocked and scared. The Harry that had calmed her, given her a pain killer, and wanted her safe was no longer standing before her. That Harry was simply gone. The Harry who towered over her bound form was frightening, so very frightening. She needed to get the Harry she knew back.
"Harry, we know you are innocent. Professor Pritchard hit you from behind, knocking you out. Lucius Malfoy was in my form after taking polyjuice potion. Crabbe was killed by-"
Harry struck her across the face for a third time. Cho was thankful for the pain-numbing potion, without it she was sure she would have passed out.
"I don't care. The fact that you know what happened just means that you should have believed me in the first place."
"Harry, I love you. Please don't do this." She looked at him, pouring all the love she felt for him into her gaze. With elation, she watched as his beautiful green eyes glistened with unshed tears.
Suddenly, Harry reached to the neck of her robes and tore them apart, revealing Cho's naked breasts to the room. He put his hands in his pockets and with a smirk, stood and watched his struggling captive.
Cho had never felt so ashamed in her life. "Harry! Pl-" she was prevented for speaking by Harry's hand over her mouth. He tore off a large strip of her robes, balled it up, and shoved it in her mouth.
"You have nothing to say, that I want to hear." he said. Drawing his wand, he muttered the incantation for the ancient branding curse. The tip of his wand glowed bright red. "Do you remember what I used to trace on your chest? My initials, a heart, then your initials. You used to love it. Well, now, I'm going to do it again."
Gagged as she was, Cho started thrashing around, desperately trying to get away from that terrible glow. Harry sighed.
"Cho, you really must not jerk around so much, it will ruin my masterpiece. Petrificus Totalus."
Cho's body stiffened, hard as a board. "Much better. Now, where were we?"
Cho's eyes watched in fear as the glowing wand came closer and touched her skin. Sizzling and popping, Harry slowly dragged his wand across Cho's unblemished skin. Unable to scream, Cho was silent as Harry etched into her flesh the very letters that had captured her heart.
It was four hours after Harry had first started branding her skin. He had dragged a great cross over the first inscription, telling her as he did so that he no longer loved her. Her eyes had initially looked into his, silently begging him to stop, but were now unfocused.
Still gagged, Cho had been in a full body bind for the entire session. Only Harry had touched her, Voldemort and his masked companion had stood by watching with glee as he had first stripped her, then etched and branded images all over her body.
"Harry, I must admit, you have put on a great show for us. I think she has had enough for now, since she doesn't seem to be paying attention to us."
Harry nodded and took the bind of the poor girl. Cho slumped in her bonds. She looked wearily up at him. He undid the straps holding her wrists to the table, and pulled her forward. He redid her bonds behind her back. "You only lasted four hours. Never forget how I feel about you." was all he said to her.
Voldemort turned to Lucius. "Take her down to the dungeons, we'll enjoy her company later."
Harry turned to face the Dark Lord. "One last request, my Lord." Voldemort raised an eyebrow. "I'd like to be the one to, well, pluck her flower."
Voldemort nodded. "Of course. Get some rest, you are excused your lessons today."
"Thank you, my Lord." Harry bowed. He watched as Cho was dragged out of the tiny room by Draco's father, still mumbling faintly through her gag.
Cho was taken into a dirty cell by the Death Eater, still gagged. He removed her restraints and tossed her to the ground. Cho curled up on her side, quivering in fear now Harry wasn't there to protect her. Her captor closed the iron door, then started removing his robes, betraying his arousal. She looked at him in dismay.
"You think my Master cares about you or Potter? Potter is spying for Dumbledore. I know this. I just need proof. His reaction to your rape will be perfect."
Cho squirmed across the filthy floor, bursting some of the deeper burns, staining the floor with red smears.
"Mind you, what he did to you today will make convincing my Master more difficult, though convincing the world he has gone over to our side will be easy. Once I reveal his treachery to my Master, he will be reviled by everyone. A fitting punishment." he said moving closer.
He grabbed her leg and dragged her along the cold floor towards him. Cho struggled, kicking out with her free leg.
The door swung open, and Lucius let her go and spun around in shock. Voldemort stood in the doorway, a mildly curious look on his face.
Cho felt the familiar tugging of a portkey behind her navel, and disappeared from the cell.
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