Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Harry was boxing when Dan with a fancy bloke at his side appeared in the gym. He pretended not to have noticed and kept boxing and kicking his current target.

"Yo, Harry!" Dan called out to him casually as he approached. Dan was his favourite in this madhouse for criminally insane youths. "There's someone here for you!"

Harry didn't pause in pummelling the punching bag he’d been working on for the past hour.

"Harry!" Dan called out more loudly a second time, making Harry groan.

"Can't it wait?" Harry sniped, using a disgruntled tone of voice to distract from the apprehension that had welled up at the appearance of the posh stranger. He had come to learn that posh people like that guy rarely meant anything good.

"Please?" Dan bargained with a smile. He had always been too friendly and lenient, yet Harry preferred him over the other social workers and nurses overseeing him and his fellow inmates.

"Just let me finish my set!" Harry remained stubborn to the end on principle. He had to show that he couldn't be pushed around so easily. He had his pride after all and it was better posh bloke got that message before they'd start talking.

Dan groaned, but retreated to let Harry finish his set in peace. He and the other staff members at the home for troubled youths knew well by now that Harry in a foul mood was something that was always to be avoided if possible. Harry took full advantage of the reputation he had built for himself. He might be in a madhouse, but that didn't mean he was dumb.

Harry bit back a grin at Dan's predictable retreat and used the small amount of additional time he had been granted to surreptitiously study the fancy bloke who had come to visit him today for some reason. The guy was too young to be a shrink and yet too old and posh to be a new-hire nurse or something. He held himself upright and with a little, polite smile fixed to his lips that was too perfect to possibly be genuine. His hair was styled in a fancy slick-back and his suit was immaculate and fitted to his tall, athletic form perfectly.

There was something carefully controlled in the posh bloke's baring that pinged Harry's sense of danger. This was a predator, someone who had to fight to be where he was - at the top - just like Harry had to. Posh bloke tried to put up a refined front, but it was in the way he had scanned the room upon arrival and how he had carefully clocked each exit and entrance that gave away that posh bloke was not so dissimilar from Harry.

He was a shark who had smelled blood in the water and now wrongly presumed Harry was the one who had baited him with his presumed vulnerability. Harry knew people like this fancy guy who enjoyed having power over others.

The most likely scenario therefore was that posh bloke was some big pharma representative who had come because they wanted to test their newest drugs on him and the other kids. Yeah, good fucking luck with that! Harry would rather go back to ward 3A with its single-occupant cells and constant isolation, then be used as a guinea pig ever again.

It was why he had taken to kickboxing many years ago. The sport was perfect to get strong and to be used as an outlet for his rage and pent-up frustration. He had been locked up here in this facility ever since he had been taken from his aunt and her family after he had punched and bitten off part of stupid Lenny's earlobe. The little bitch had had it coming though for always taunting him and playing ‘Harry Hunting’ with his fat cousin and his vile friends. Harry had already been a pariah and marked as a trouble maker back then, so he had decided to fully embrace the stigmata he hadn't been able to shake no matter what he had done to show he wasn't a delinquent.

Ending up in juvie and in an institution for the mad, was in some ways better and yet worse than having remained in his cupboard at the Dursleys. He had gotten fed regular meals for the first time in his life when he had arrived as a scruffy kid in ward 2B - meant for troubled, young offenders. That had soon changed though and he had been pumped full of drugs to sedate him and make him obey after he had lashed out and injured two nurses and set his room on fire in protest of being drugged regularly. It didn't help that the shrink seeing to him at the time had been a little too fond of little boys.

Harry had never particularly enjoyed physical contact, but after those sessions, he had developed a violent aversion towards it. That had been many years ago and the pervert had been transferred elsewhere after some of his proclivities had come to light, yet Harry had never forgotten.

He threw a discreet glance at where Dan was idling and making nice with posh bloke by the entrance to the gym. He gritted his teeth and put extra force into his last punches. Dan was a nice dude, but Harry didn't trust fancy bloke's intentions one bit.

Harry was panting by the time he stepped back from the punching back. Posh bloke saw his chance and approached him with his salesman smile perfectly in place. He was better at masking his true feelings than most - a trait usually only gained by dire necessity and usually a sign of trauma or a hidden streak of psychopathy. Harry prided himself in knowing some things since he had been paying attention to the ramblings of the psych students that had been studying him over the years.

"Good afternoon, Harry Potter. It's so nice to meet you!" posh bloke greeted.

Harry threw him a disdainful glance and didn't pause in taking off his boxing gloves. "What do you want?" he griped brusquely.

"I was hoping to get a moment of your time," posh bloke explained, his infuriating smile never wavering. Harry felt an itch in his fingers to punch it off his too handsome face. "My name is Tom Riddle and I've come to visit because I have most urgent news for you."

Harry mustered the other man critically now that the guy had stepped closer to him despite his obvious hostility. Posh bloke clearly wasn't easily intimidated. Harry hated these confident types. This Tom Riddle looked like he expected everyone to bow down to him in reverence or something.

"What news?" Harry asked before he used the excuse to fetch his bottle of water from the nearby bench to put more distance between them again.

"There are people out there who have been looking for you for many years," Riddle explained while following him like a pesky horsefly that has discovered a big, tasty turd.

Harry snorted, not buying that for a second. "Yeah, drop the other one, posh bloke!"

If Riddle was affronted by his rebuff, he made an excellent job of hiding his irritation.

"Mister Potter -"

"Call me Harry," he interjected. He was fond of using rudeness as a means to deter people from talking to him. Usually, it worked, but not with Riddle. "I hate it when they use my last name."

"Bad memories associated with it?" Riddle asked, perfect smile turned cocky as he stopped beside Harry.

"Yo, fuck off, bruv, before I make you!" Harry warned the other right off.

Riddle shot him a saccharine smile and offered him his hand to shake anyway.

"I was only hoping to say hello like a civilised person," Riddle insisted.

Harry bared his teeth and ignored the hand held out to him expectantly. Riddle was more stubborn than expected. Harry clearly had to retreat and regroup and come up with a new strategy to get rid of that asshole. He turned on his heel and simply walked away without a word.

"Please! You're a wizard, Harry!" Riddle called after him. There was true emotion in his voice for the first time. Yet, that statement was so absurd that Harry could do nothing but burst out into loud, ringing laughter.

"Yo, posh bloke, I didn't know you were an escapee from Ward 4!" he chuckled. "How'd you manage that? Must have really fooled the shrinks with your acting for them to have released you into the wild!"

Riddle looked completely serious though, like Harry was the mental one here.

"I'm being serious, Harry," Riddle stated coldly.

"Yeah, good one, mate," Harry easily dismissed him though. "You've had your fun, but now fuck off and stop bothering me!"

Even though it smarted, Harry turned his back to posh bloke and slung his towel over his sweaty shoulders as he hastened his steps towards the showers.

"Harry!" Riddle insisted. He reached out for Harry's hand, as if he wanted to force that handshake at all costs.

Not with Harry though! He snarled and pulled his hand away.

"Don't touch me or I'll rearrange your ugly mug!"

Thinking that that had been clear enough, Harry wanted to escape the creepy guy as quickly as possible. He quickened his steps, but Riddle was relentless. He followed and struck as fast as a viper.

Harry flinched as those pale fingers snapped around his wrist like a vice. He froze, his eyes widening in panic as he felt those fingers restraining him in his freedom just like those bloody wrist cuffs had back when he had been in Ward 3A. His initial panic was quickly overshadowed by a surge of incandescent rage. How dare he?! He had given posh bloke more than enough of a warning! It wasn't his fault that the guy had been too stupid to heed it!

Harry lowered his centre of gravity and then spun around, his leg raised high. He wrenched his wrist free at the same time as he kicked Riddle in the midriff. Posh bloke let out a chocked, startled noise as he lost his balance and tumbled to the floor. Harry wasn't done yet though.

He let out a scream of pure rage as he threw himself on top of Riddle, his fist aimed right at his nose. It would teach the fucker right to choke on his own blood after Harry had shattered his dainty nose. Instead of Harry's fist making a satisfying impact on Riddle's face though, Harry was frozen mid-motion. He tried to struggle against the invisible force that held him in place, but it was too strong.

His panic surged at being restrained and he began to trash mindlessly in the hold of whatever mysterious force was holding him captive right now.

"Fucker! I'll fucking kill you!" Harry grit out as a smug Riddle rose to his feet calmly while Harry was trapped on his knees on the floor where he had been crouching above Riddle’s fallen form just a couple of seconds ago. "What did you do to me?!"

"Magic," Riddle stated with a smug smirk.

"Stop shitting me! There's no such thing as magic! Or bloody wizards! You're just deluded and sick in the head!"

Riddle scoffed. "That's rich coming from someone whose been in the maximum-security ward for the criminally insane for more than two years before coming here."

"Fuck you!"

"Such foul language," Riddle tsked. "If your parents could hear you right now."

"They don’t care because they're dead!" Harry screamed. He was panting harshly as he still desperately fought whatever Riddle had done to him.

"I know," Riddle assured. His smile turned cruel as he bent down to be at one height with Harry. "I've been the one who killed them after all."

Harry scoffed, not scared at all. "Nice try, fucker! But they died in a car crash!"

Riddle cocked his head to the side and grinned. "Ah, is that the story they went with..."

After that puzzling statement, Riddle took out a pale twig he must have hidden somewhere up his sleeve. Harry watched as he waved the stick about and muttered something that sounded like Latin. Yeah, posh dude was clearly completely mental. If only Harry wasn't stuck to the floor somehow, he'd bash his pearly teeth in and show Riddle what it meant to mess with him.

"I've cast a simple immobilisation spell on you," Riddle explained as he swished his stick about like it actually was a wand. Harry gasped when the next swish of the man's stick suddenly made him shoot to his feet like a marionette that got its strings pulled.

"This is a wand," Riddle explained as he had clearly followed Harry's gaze just now. "It's a conductor for magic."

"You're crazy!" Harry barked as he scooted backwards now that he could finally move again. He had to put some distance between him and Riddle! And fast!

"Mhm... Let's see if I can convince you yet," Riddle stated cryptically. He slashed his stick through the air and suddenly floating balls of fire and water materialised before him.

"Believe me now?"

"It's just a trick! Smoke and mirrors!" Harry denied, as he tried to find a way to escape this clearly demented fucker.

The floating balls vanished and with another swish of his stick, Riddle made the discarded punching bags float in the air and bob up and down as he directed them to float in a circle as if they were trapped in an invisible merry-go-round.

"Magnets and wires or something!" Harry refused to be impressed. "It'll take more than cheap parlour tricks to get me, bruv!"

Riddle threw him a sharp grin in reply. He waved his stick about and then suddenly the gym around them began to transform.

The old wooden bench by the flaking wall transformed into a fancy couch with silk upholstery and the punching bags turned into artful, gilded lamps. The cheap Linoleum flooring beneath their feet became polished hardwood and the crumbling plaster on the walls turned into elaborate tapestries.

"See now?" Riddle inquired with a smug smile as Harry was caught up in gaping at the completely transformed room. "Magic is real and I'm a wizard, just like you are too."

Harry gawked as he took in the elaborate illusion Riddle had created. He kicked the transformed couch just to test that it wasn't a hologram or something and gasped when his foot met resistance upon impact. He stumbled back as his mind was whirring.

It was impossible!

So, naturally, there was only one explanation left!

"The fucking drugs where in your hand somehow! That's why you were so insistent that we shake hands!" Harry exclaimed, his heart beating fast as he realised he had been outplayed.

Riddle sighed and looked disappointed as he turned to Harry. "You're not drugged, Harry. This is magic, simple as that," he insisted.

Harry laughed hysterically as he began to hyperventilate and back away from Riddle.

"Calm yourself," Riddle beseeched him dispassionately. "I know this is a lot to take in, but I promise I and my Death Eaters are going to take good care of you from now on."

Harry didn't properly register the other's words. His lungs were burning as he desperately gasped for a little bit of precious air. He knew he was having a panic attack right now, but that of course didn't help him with drawing in any fresh air into his straining lungs.

"It's ok, Harry," he dimly heard the other man say. Riddle sounded as if he was speaking into a metal tube though. Harry's vision began to blur. His ears popped and his eyes became unfocused.

The last thing he registered were two steady hands landing one each on his front and back to prevent him from having an uncomfortable meeting with the floor. After that, there was only darkness and silence as Harry succumbed to his panic attack and the effects of whatever drugs he had been injected with.

Chapter Text

Harry came to all at once. He wished he'd be less used to being pumped full with all kinds of drugs by now, as it meant his system had become accustomed to working through the side effects of the drugs quickly due to his extensive exposure to them. It also meant that his mind was clear as he snapped his eyes open upon awakening.

He was lying on a bed in a room with an arched, wooden ceiling and with walls covered in old-fashioned tapestry. Very untypical for a facility to stash mental patients in. Nothing about the room screamed hospital, yet Harry's heart began to race either way as he remembered the last moments of his run-in with Riddle.

As if summoned by his thoughts, Riddle along with two other blokes strolled into the room. That perfect little smile was back on the guy's face and it once again made Harry want to roundhouse kick him into next week.

"You!" Harry hissed as he quickly scrambled up into a sitting position.

Riddle's smile grew at Harry recognising him and acquired a sharp edge that had Harry on guard.

"Where am I?" Harry hissed before anyone had the chance to speak up. "What did you do to me?"

"I believe you've suffered a panic attack after my reveal that you are a fellow wizard. Which in turn has rendered you unconscious in your momentary shock," Riddle claimed, yet that didn't explain one bit why Harry was here now and why there were three people surrounding him that apparently shared the same delusion that magic was real.

The two guys dressed in strange scrubs resembling those of old-timey doctors, both had sticks in their hands, just like Riddle had had yesterday.

"Stop lying to me!" Harry screamed. His racing heart and all the adrenalin thrumming in his veins was making him feel slightly woozy; Or, perhaps that was only the side effects of whatever experimental drugs he had likely been injected with during his time-out in dream land.

When the two weird-looking doctor dudes approached him with their sticks raised, Harry scooted backwards up to the headboard of his bed.

"Get away from me!" he shrieked.

He was losing his cool as he stared at their hands raised as if to touch him. He let out a cry like a wounded dog as he lashed out at the man closest to him. Harry grabbed him by the arm and twisted, then used the thusly gained leverage to flip the man over and force him to lose his balance if wanted to escape a broken wrist.

The guy hit the floor with a grunt, his stick falling from his hand and rolling off. Harry didn't stay to watch as he was already busy moving in on the downed guy's companion. Before he could grab the second doctor though, Riddle intervened by saying something that sounded like something close to 'Stupidly'. Harry's gaze snapped to Riddle as the man whipped his stick up and then shot a red light from its tip at him.

Harry gasped as he watched the light arch towards him and then burn upon impact with his chest. After that, Harry knew no more as he fell over as if switched off.

~*~

The next time he woke up, he instantly knew that there was someone in the room with him already. He was still in the same room as before even if there now was the quiet breathing of another person to disturb the perfect silence.

Harry remained vertical and kept his eyes closed as he took stock of his body. He was still unharmed physically, if not mentally. The drugs had clearly been doing a number on him if he was feeling this physically tired.

"Ah, Harry," Riddle's grating drawl sounded. "I see you're finally back with us again."

Harry snarled and attempted to sit up, but it was as if invisible cords had been wrapped over his torso to affix him to the bed. He began to shift and kick his legs as he struggled against his invisible restraints.

"Harry, calm yourself!" Riddle ordered sharply.

The command was so forceful, it worked to give Harry pause for a second. He was proper scared now, but he wouldn't give Riddle the satisfaction of seeing that. He put on a brave facade as the man’s face came into view above him.

Whoever Riddle was, he was clearly the boss as the other two guys had looked at him earlier with apprehensive, yet admiring gazes. If only Harry could move - at least sit up -, then he'd feel more confident about agonising Riddle.

"Magic isn't real!" Harry snarled, denying everything that Riddle had wanted him to believe.

"It is," Riddle insisted calmly.

"It's not!" Harry didn't repent.

Riddle waved his stick with an exasperated expression on his face. "What do you call that then?" he drawled as floating, glowing numbers spelling out the current time appeared in the air upon his prompting.

"Stop drugging me!" Harry snarled at the display of supposed magic. "I don't believe a thing coming out of your fucking mouth!"

Riddle tutted and clicked his tongue as he snapped his stick to the side. Harry let out a startled yelp as the gesture made a sharp sting hit his ass like a small electrical shock.

"I'll bash in ya nose, fucker!" Harry snarled and in reaction redoubled his efforts to escape the invisible ropes tying him to the bed.

Riddle sighed in exasperation and stood up straighter from where he had been looming over Harry's supine form until now.

"Manners, Harry," Riddle admonished.

"Cocksucking whore! You're delusional!"

Riddle fiddled with his stick that doubled as some kind of controller for the room's hidden equipment of tech used to create the illusion of magic.

"Perhaps you'll be more receptive to less flashy, but rather more forceful means of convincing you…"

"Fuck you!" Harry spat. He was pinned like a dead butterfly, but he'd rather bite off his tongue than temper it.

"You've brought this upon yourself," Riddle spoke before he twitched his wrist and muttered something weird-sounding like, "Crucifix."

Before Harry could even wonder what hidden function that command would activate, there already was a breath-taking agony ripping through his body and mind. He screamed as he convulsed in bed, his every nerve feeling as if it had been set on fire. It was pure agony unlike any he had experienced before and he had had endured a ripped appendix as well as all the worst side effects of all kinds of drugs, so he knew what he was talking about.

It was likely only a couple of seconds until the pure, distilled agony relented, but it left Harry panting for air and shaking all over. His hands were twitching as if whatever type of electricity that had made them spasm before was still running through them in little intervals.

"Magic can do all kinds of things," Riddle's infuriatingly calm and smug voice filtered in.

"Wanker!" Harry snarled as he glared at his abductor and captor. "Torture is illegal! And whatever drugs you've given me against my will are too!"

"There are no drugs, Harry. I already told you-"

"Bullshit!" Harry snapped, his temper flaring as he now was in agony and scared both. It was the worst kind of situation and the perfect recipe for disaster. His previous handlers knew that and therefore avoided agonising him since they didn't want a rampaging, out-of-control Harry to deal with.

"You've abducted me and then locked me up in here, trying to sell your cheap tricks to me as magic! How pathetic do you have to be!" Harry hissed. "You only want to see how effective your new drug is in brainwashing the minds of little orphans like me who nobody will miss if they simply disappear!"

"And pray tell, how would I have gotten you here then without anybody noticing?" Riddle sighed.

Harry gasped, as the matter suddenly became clear to him. Riddle was much more dangerous and powerful than he had presumed. This had nothing to do with big pharma.

"Oh god! You're some kind of agent and this is a government conspiracy!" Harry whispered in horror. "It's unethical human experimentation! Has to be! And this is a top-secret facility or something for you to do your evil experiments in!"

Riddle rolled his eyes. "Do you even hear yourself? - How ridiculous that theory sounds?"

Harry bared his teeth. "You're the ridiculous one for thinking you can make people believe in magic!"

Seeming to lose his patience, Riddle brought up his stick doubling as some kind of command rod again. Harry instantly braced for the worse. Upon Riddle's softly spoken command, fire raced through Harry's veins again which instantly made him wish to die to escape the unbearable pain.

It lasted longer than last time. Harry screamed himself hoarse as he trashed and his body seized. He was dead tired and his vision was blurry by the time Riddle finally stopped torturing him.

"Think about what we've discussed today," the other man instructed him. "I'll leave you to recover in peace as I hope this has been a worthwhile lesson."

Harry wanted to snarl and hurl insults at Riddle, but he was too exhausted to move even his tongue. He heard footsteps step away from him and then a door click shut before he was left behind in ringing silence.

There was no machine he was hooked up to that disturbed the silence with its beeping. There was no equipment at all visible, yet Harry didn't doubt that Riddle and his merry band of doctors would register every spike in his heartbeat. No cameras or suspicious mirrors where visible as well, but if this truly was a top-secret, governmental experimentation lab, then Harry didn't doubt they had advanced technology beyond his comprehension.

They could drug and torture him all they wanted; he was never going to break! Many had tried before, yet all had failed in their attempts to brainwash him. Harry gasped as a new notion suddenly entered his mind upon that notion. Perhaps he had been picked exactly for his previous resistance to attempts at manipulation! Perhaps, Riddle and his gang thought that if they could brainwash him with their drugs, then those drugs were going to work on anybody else too!

It was a sinister thought, yet one Harry thought had more and more merit the longer he contemplated it. It became clear to him that he needed to gather more data about his captor to formulate a viable plan of escape. This wasn't a mental hospital, but a research lab for evil experiments. Harry needed to observe his captors closely to learn their habits and get a better idea what he was dealing with here.

That didn't mean that he in any way cooperated with them though. When two blokes in their weird doctor’s garb came by with a tray of food some hours later, Harry fought them every step of the way. They had to use their rods and the command 'Immobulus' to pin Harry to the bed and stop him from fighting them off tooth and nail. Harry glared the whole time he was force-fed stale potato mash that was then washed down by a glass of tap water.

The doctors made sure they were well out of reach by the door when they cancelled their command that had rendered Harry unable to move. Those command rods clearly had a lot of power in these facilities. Harry would clearly have to steal one as it'd surely aid his escape. Before that, he'd clearly have to learn more about those command rods and listen to his captors' words more closely as they utilised their rods.

During the following days, Harry learned that the command word 'Stupefy' activated an inbuilt laser pointer that then caused whomever it was pointed at to faint. The command 'Immobulus' Harry became intimately familiar with each time his captors came by to force a meal down his gullet.

Riddle though had not been by the past few days after he had activated the device that had tortured Harry with a softly spoken 'Crucio'. Harry wondered if the pain the device could cause was connected to something hidden installed in the bed or of it could possibly work in the whole room. He'd have to play it safe during his escape and stick to 'Stupefy' as he had seen that trick work no matter where he was in the room.

After biding his time for another day, Harry decided that he had gathered enough information and it was time to put his makeshift escape plan into action. He acted more docile than usual when the customary pair of doctors came by during mealtime. They should have suspected that he was luring them into a false sense of security when he willingly opened his mouth and let them spoon-feed him the grub they had prepared for him today.

They likely thought it was progress, but Harry knew better. They'd soon come to regret ever daring to touch him. The ideal opportunity arose once he had nearly finished his meal. The doctor to his right had gotten sloppy and had let his eyes leave Harry for a second to check on something on the piece of paper he extracted from his weird doctor's coat.

Harry was lightning quick when he struck. His hand had barely closed around the command rod peaking from the distracted doctor's coat when he was already shouting 'Stupefy' and training the rod on the idiot's companion.

To his immense satisfaction and relief, the rod worked for him and activated on his command. The momentarily distracted idiot of a doctor whose stolen command rod Harry was clutching now barely had time to register what had happened, when he met a similar fate to his companion. Two loud smacks echoed around the room as Harry jumped from the bed and ignored the two unconscious men who had hit the floor.

Luck was on his side when he found the door to his room unlocked. He took a deep breath and tightened his grip on his stolen command rod before he threw the door open and ducked low in case there'd be any counter fire. A startled, clearly unsuspecting doctor was all he met in the corridor outside. The man was dealt with similarly to his colleagues as Harry slashed his stolen command rod at him and whispered the activation word 'Stupefy' which dropped the man like a sack of potatoes.

So far, so good. Harry kept his guard up as he approached the dropped doctor to search his pockets for anything useful like an access pass or something. There was nothing but a feather, a small pot of dark liquid and some weirdly thick paper in his pockets though. Clearly this facility ran on something more advanced than ID cards. Probably something fancy like facial recognition or retina scans to grant the evil doctors access to their labs of evil.

Hearing footsteps approach from down the hall, Harry picked up the unconscious man and used him as a shield when a pair of doctors rounded the corner ahead of him.

They shouted commands Harry hadn't heard before as they whipped their command rods about. Harry yelped when something impacted his meat shield with a force great enough to knock both of them off their feet. He never let go of his stolen command rod though and kept a cool head despite being outnumbered. He shot off a well-aimed 'Stupefy' command and grinned viciously when it dropped the man that had swept him off his feet.

The other guy had had the chance to get away though and raise a silent alarm. Nothing much changed about the corridor clad in a thick luxurious carpet and with it walls covered in dark, expensive wood panelling, but Harry felt a shudder go down his back as whatever defences there were activated themselves. A tingling sensation swept over him and the lights flickered for a moment before everything went back to normal again. Harry of course didn't trust the peace and took off running in the opposite directing from the man who had been able to get away and raise the alarm.

It'd be so much harder now to make his escape as now everybody would have their guard up and would be on the lookout for him. That he had no idea where he was going and what layout the secret lab had, didn't help Harry's chances. He'd have to try though! He couldn't just take this lying down.

He sprinted down the elegant corridors and was glad for the wasted splendour as the thick carpet below his bare feet muffled his steps as he ran as fast as he could. All the anti-aggression kickboxing lessons paid off when Harry literally ran into a guy after he had just rounded another corner. He wrenched the command rod from the guy's hand before he pummelled him with his fists and dropped him unconscious with a well-aimed high kick.

He didn't pause to search the man's pockets as he thought it more prudent to keep going; make it harder on his captors to pin him down. He had no idea why the evil lab looked like a mansion straight out of Pride and Prejudice as he frankly found that interior decorating choice impractical and infuriating. There were no handy green fire exit signs to guide him to the closest exit or any fire safety maps tacked to the walls featuring the schematics of the building.

Harry was running blind and he hated it. Just as he contemplated randomly trying one of the closed doors he passed during his aimless run, a noise in front of him made him skid to a halt. Multiply voices could be heard giving commands and taking about an escaped prisoner.

Harry didn't stay to listen any longer and rather turned on his heel and went back the way he had come. This time, he tried the doors he passed, though all of them were locked. Right. Facial recognition technology or something to keep out unauthorised personnel.

Harry moved on quickly as new noises drew closer to him. He picked directions at random and hoped for the best as his bare feet pounded the lush carpet. He could have wept with joy when he rounded a corner and for the first time something looking like a patio door came into view. He could actually see the terrace and gardens beyond.

His heart leaping with renewed hope, all his joy was dashed when a smirking figure calmly stepped into his way. Harry wrenched his command rod up, but Riddle was quicker.

"Expelliarmus!" Riddle had uttered before Harry could have completed his command that'd have made the man fall unconscious.

Harry exclaimed when the stolen command rod was wrenched from his tight grip by an invisible force and flew over to land in Riddle's raised and waiting hand. They both stood - Harry frozen in helpless terror and Riddle smug as ever - and stared each other down.

"Harry," Riddle uttered his name with feigned disappointment.

Harry could see the other man was secretly pleased though by the turn of events that had led to him being the one standing between Harry and his freedom. As the silence stretched between them, Harry was able to overhear a commotion behind him.

"Our lord got him by the southern patio!" a male voice relayed into some kind of communication device, most likely to update his peers.

"Fuck you!" Harry spat with pure hatred as he rushed Riddle in a last-ditch attempt to make an escape.

"Crucio!" the man calmly countered with which made Harry drop to the floor barely a few steps in front of Riddle and start screaming and writhing in pain.

The pain only stopped what felt like an eternity later. When Harry pried his eyes open and propped himself up on badly shaking hands and arms there where men in weird silver masks and black robes surrounding him on all sides, their command rods all pointed at him.

"Test subject zero nine contained," Harry was able to overhear one of the masked men mutter into the inbuilt headset of his mask.

Riddle let out a screech of pure rage at his subordinate's slip-up, but Harry had already heard enough.

With his teeth bloodied from where he had accidentally bitten his tongue, he lifted his gaze to face Riddle with a smug smirk on his bloodied lips.

"Pathetic!" Harry rasped hoarsely even as Riddle snapped his wand up and soon the agonised screams from the man who had messed up rang out all around them.

Harry kept his defiant gaze trained on Riddle even as other men stepped forward and bound his limbs with a command Harry didn’t quiet catch. Even restrained, Harry kept smirking though. He had seen through Riddle from day one and he would continue to do so, no matter what drugs they used on him to try to brainwash him.

Harry spat into Riddle's face when the man crouched down before him and harshly grabbed his face. A backhand was his reward, but it was more than worth it to see Riddle's perfect facade shattered. Cruelty and madness shone in his eyes as he stared Harry down after wiping the blood-stained spit from his cheek.

Harry recoiled in disgust and fear both when Riddle brought the fingers coated in Harry's blood-stained spit to his lips and then licked them clean.

"You're mine, Harry," Riddle whispered to him, his gaze cutting like a scalpel. "Don’t ever doubt that. I'll have you doing as I say soon enough," Riddle promised him before he leaned down to press his lips to Harry's.

Instead of kissing him, Riddle bit down harshly on Harry's lower lip, making pain burst forth as well as a deluge of fresh blood. Harry exclaimed and struggled feebly to get away from the perverted madman, but there was no give in his restraints.

Riddle pulled away and observed him for a couple of seconds while languidly lapping up the sprays of Harry's blood that had ended up on his lips. Harry shuddered in disgust and terror both as Riddle rose to his full height and gestured to his henchmen.

"Take him back to his room and make sure to up security. I'll deal with him personally from now on since you're too idiotic to even keep a hold of your wands!" he hissed, making his subordinates bow low to him and then scuttle off like frightened rats.

"We're going to be having a lot of fun, Harry," Riddle promised him once Harry had been manhandled into an upright position, one masked man built like a tank on each of his side. "I've been looking for someone like you for years now. If there’s once thing that I can promise you, then it’s that you'll never get out of here now that I've finally found you."

Harry snarled in silent rage, but what could he say that he hadn't already? Riddle was a sick fuck with too much power and money who got off on his defiance. Harry would be playing right into his cards if he threw a great tantrum now. So, instead he remained stubbornly silent as he glared Riddle down.

"Nothing to say for once?" Riddle mocked him, but Harry resisted the urge to cuss him out. Seeing him frustrated was much more satisfying even if Harry knew he'd likely pay for it later.

"Very well," Riddle stated coldly. "We might have to test the efficiency of the 'Obliviate' sooner than thought tonight," he muttered to himself as he raised his command rod, trained it on Harry and then uttered a soft 'Stupefy'.

When the red light hit him, Harry nearly welcomed the oblivion he knew would follow as it'd mean he'd get away from Riddle's hungry gaze for a little while at least.