The Nightmare Man

Summary: In the depths of the Ministry, there is a cell for the world's most dangerous man… and he wants out.

Pairing/s: None.

Warnings: Time travel, OOC-characters, Light!bashing, Twisted!Harry, Evil!Harry, violence, mention of gore. Yeah, stuff like that.

Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter nor do I make any money writing this.

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A little extra and update!

The prequel is now up!

Birth of a Nightmare Man is now up as the prequel to this story.

Plus you get a little drabble from The Nightmare Man below this, because I thought, what the hell, why just an update to tell you guys about the prequel? You get to read a little drabble and then jump over to the prequel if you feel like it.

Either way, read and enjoy!

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Drabble

Harrison's mind wasn't very organized. It was a maze that people would get lost in, because the rooms kept changing, the memories kept running around. He was perfectly capable of breaking into people's minds but not very good at structuring his own. Few people knew that of course, because he had gotten the hang of throwing people out whenever they tried to sneak into his head.

He didn't like the feeling much, otherwise it would be quite fun to see them get lost in his own memories. But having his mind invaded reminded him too much of old times, when he was young and foolish and trusted people blindly.

Lucian had tried it several times over the years, and was by now the only one Harrison was comfortable letting into his own head. The blond man loved to test his skills and try not to end up wondering when the hell his master went to a masquerade in Venice, as Harrison usually led his poor servant to that particular memory.

"Master?" the blond said one day. "May I?"

"Why now?" Harrison asked. "Are you that bored already? Harry went back to school only a week ago."

"I have nothing to do. You give me no orders, so please… may I?"

"You consider it good past time digging around in my head?" Harrison wondered. Lucian continued to stare at him, somewhat pleadingly. "Alright, alright! But you better find something else to do after this, or I'll actually order you to clean up in the dungeons."

Lucian didn't dignify that with a response and instead slipped through Harrison's defences. Harrison could feel the man's presence but ignored it, letting Lucian wander around as he continued to read his book.

He didn't realize how far Lucian had wandered off when the blond came back to himself and said:

"Master, why do you remember two different George Weasley?"

Harrison looked up from his book.

"How bloody long back ago did you wander?" he asked. "That… I haven't… it's been a long time since I met that first George Weasley, if you're referring to one of them missing an ear."

"Yes, one of them was missing an ear. Is that a past George Weasley?"

"Sort of," Harrison said.

He could feel it now, the memories resurfacing after Lucian's little walk. Long hours spent playing chess, George confiding in him, George fighting for him…

The coldness of Azkaban that even now made him shiver. That damp cell underneath the Ministry was a five-star hotel compared to that, although it had been annoying he wasn't able to get up and walk around.

"I didn't mean for you to see those memories," Harrison said. "I hardly think of them myself."

"I apologise, master, I merely…"

"I never said you couldn't see them. I just… don't think about those times."

That George Weasley was vastly different from the one he knew in this time, the one who still had his brother. Those two were probably driving Elise insane by now, since they didn't have Severus to drive insane anymore.

"Do you miss that George? You seemed… close."

"We were, in a way… everyone else left, but not him. He stayed with me."

It felt like an eternity ago. To some, it was an eternity ago, almost a thousand years, perhaps even more… Harrison wasn't good with years, lost track of them far too easily. But memories remained, even if they lay mostly forgotten in a dark corner.

"Can you tell me some more… of yourself when you were young?"

Harrison looked over at Lucian, who came closer and plucked the book from his hands.

"What are you doing?" Harrison asked. "You've never asked me that before."

Lucian sat down next to him.

"I never saw those memories before. Now I'm curious. You shouldn't have made us curious."

"I didn't. You just were."

Harrison reached out and ran a finger down Lucian's cheek.

"Well, there's nothing else to do," he said. "Do you want something specific?"

"Anything."

"Alright then. I'll start with something good then. Hmm… oh, when I was thirteen I magically blew up my aunt like a balloon…"

End

Again, the prequel is out!