Breathing heavily, he pushed himself up. It was over. He was done.

his skin stung, as the blood streamed from his skin.

But it was over.

He forced himself to sit up, and couldn't meet the eyes of his assailant. True, he could've ended this with magic, but he knew things would have gotten worse, somehow.

The footsteps receded, a door closed, and he was alone. He was the "Boy Who Lived." He knew he should be grateful, but part of him wanted to go to Voldemort.

'He'd take me out of my misery.' Harry thought savagely.

In moments, Harry decided what he'd do. He stood, swaying slightly, and dizzy. He knew he was destined to die anyway. Why not go sooner?

He winced at the pain of his first steps forward, as he limped, and the force of that reverberated through his body. It will be over soon. He'd be safe.

That was his mantra, as he held out his wand arm at the street, and the knight bus came streaking forward. He clambered aboard, paid his fare, and waited.

It was common knowledge that his school enemy Malfoy lived in Derbyshire. That's where he'd go. If anyone knew where Voldemort was, it was him. His father was a death eater, after all.

It was an hour or so later, when an exhausted Harry Potter approached the gate. He needed rest. He was so tired, and breathing was so hard. Hedwig landed softly on the gate.

"Hey Hedwig." He gasped out. Hedwig clicked her beak, and he knew she was worried.

"Lead Malfoy here, will ya? I need him." Harry whispered, and she took off.

It was ten minutes before Draco emerged from the Manor. He let out a gasp of shock, when he saw Harry. Harry offered a weak smile.

"Where is the dark lord?" He asked, hoarsely.

"Are you mental?! Why would you be looking for him?" Malfoy demanded, stepping out of the gate. He knelt beside Potter, and took in the boy's ragged appearance. He was bloodied, bruised, and it was obvious he had a broken rib.

'Does he want to die?' Malfoy thought to himself.

"Please, Malfoy. If you know where he is, please, take me to him." Harry pleaded. Malfoy hesitated.

"You can't fight like this, Potter. You'll be killed." He replied.

Potter smiled. "I know." He whispered. Draco could hardly breath. He wanted to die?

"Why?" He asked.

"Don't you see? everyone I love will die if I don't. Besides, what's the point in living half dead, when I should be dead anyway?" Potter answered. Draco was soon joined by his father. He froze when he saw Harry.

"Bring him in." He sai, rather harshly, to Draco. His son nodded, and obeyed.

Lucious led them through to a dining room, and Harry was half dragged into the room, by Draco.

"Potter, you can't let him do this. Fight back." Draco whispered.

"Bring him here." A delighted voice said, and it was high, cold. Harry looked up, and saw the familiar red eyes, and pale grey skin. He almost smiled, as he was set down before Voldemort, as gently as Draco could manage.

There was silence. Voldemort beamed at the boy, as he turned to the Death eaters around him. He said something, but Harry wasn't paying attention.

He was watching the snake. He gently patted its head. The snake allowed it. Nagini. She seemed delighted. Potter guessed he'd be fed to her once it was all over.

Then, it all faded to black.

Severus gently laid the limp boy down on a bed. Soon, they'd have to move, but for now, this boy needed to be tended to.

There were bruises all over him, and he seemed to be bleeding everywhere. Gently, Severus began tending to the boys wounds.

It was a long while before he began to stir. When he opened his eyes, he looked at Severus, and seemed to cower away.

Severus was unsure what to do. Yes, he was used to his students being afraid of him, but never had he expected this one to be. After all, he was James Potter's son. Severus backed away, to give the child some time to acclimate to his new environment.

Then of course, Severus went to another room. Brewing potions should help. He always found a calming sensation followed with the precise hand of potion making. and so, he began to brew a calming draught.

He was sure Harry may need one in the near future anyway. May as well have one ready. It was a bit before he was joined by a very timid Harry Potter.

At least the boy remained quiet. After a while, hee seemed to catch on to what Severus was doing, and pulled the potions book towards himself.

Severus watched closely as the boy followed the instructions carefully, and split the bloodroot stems lengthwise. He then scraped the fluids, and fibrous material from inside, crushing it into a fine paste with a mortar and pestle. Severus smiled to himself.

Maybe the boy hadn't been so bad at potions after all.

Potter had gone to the dark lord. He'd wanted to die. Severus could not think of anything other than Potter A quick stunning spell had put him to sleep. At least he didn't witness what had happened. Severus winced as he touched his side.

Lestrange had cast a curse, and hit him in the side. It was all he could do to get to Harry. His true colors had shown. He remembered the fury on the Dark Lord's face. He remembered the curses hitting him from all sides.

Malfoy, the boy, had aided him, and now they'd gone in hiding. Severus had no idea where Malfoy was, but he'd worry about that later. He had Potter to attend to.

Still, Severus knew he could not help this child as long as he could hardly move, and so he began to patch himself up. He finished, almost an hour later, and found Harry wide awake, which was odd. He was supposed to be stunned.

He was looking around, confused. That bit made sense. He had no idea where he was, after all.