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Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness	By : Danyealle Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Voldemort Views: 297652 -:- Recommendations : 54 -:- Currently Reading : 184
Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter. This is a work of fanfiction and no profit is being made. It is a for-fun endeavor and no infringement is intended.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
This chapter is written by: Aya Macchiato

Beta done by tannne and Danyealle-sama

Again, I remind everyone that the amazing Aya Macchiato has given me permission to continue this story for her. This is another of the chapters that she already had done. All I've done with this one is some basic beta work, nothing more, it's as she wrote it!

Link to the first story...

http://hp.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600095391

-Danyealle

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Chapter 10

Nearly another week passed. Barty, Thor and Harry had met on several occasions to plan things for the coming school year and, even though Thor was now aware of Harry's true identity, he still wore his glamor ring all the time since there was still the ever-present risk that other Death Eaters could come to the manor. There had been a few meetings for other Death Eater matters, but not many. One noteworthy, and slightly amusing meeting, had occurred during that time. Snape had come in to give his normal report on Order activity. Harry had been there in his sea krait form, as was usual for Voldemort's 'private' meetings with Snape.

During the meeting, Snape had informed Voldemort that Dumbledore had requested that he discover as much information as he can manage about Evan Harris. Snape had then appeared oddly uncomfortable and hesitated. What followed was an extremely awkward few minutes where he had quickly sped through a description of a meeting he had with Dumbledore where the old man had told Snape about stumbling upon the Dark Lord kissing Evan Harris.

Voldemort had kept a straight face through all of this, which, honestly, was amazing, because Harry had been hissing snickers the entire time.

It was obvious that Severus was incredibly uncomfortable during the whole admission so he had kept his head low and his eyes diverted from Voldemort's, and had actually shifted nervously, which was incredibly out of character for the normally stoic, unreadable, man.

Voldemort had not confirmed nor denied anything and Harry got the impression that Snape was unnerved by that fact. The man seemed to be hoping that Voldemort would deny or scoff at the ridiculous idea and he had done no such thing.

Then he had then covered what information he could gradually come to 'learn' about Harris and provide to Dumbledore. None of it was actually true and it was obvious that most of it was simply to serve the purpose of misleading the old goat in his quest for more information.

Snape had been dismissed and as soon as he'd left the manor, Harry had returned to his human form then burst out in a fit of giggles that had Voldemort rolling his eyes at him. At the following advanced training session, Snape had watched 'Evan' like a hawk. His black eyes constantly observing and scrutinizing everything he did. Just for shits and giggles, Harry had made a point of sending a few salacious looks at Voldemort. He had even touched him on the arm once when no one but Snape was looking.

Snape's eyes had gotten large and he had paled considerably. Voldemort had scowled at Harry and told him over their mental link to stop teasing his follower. Harry had snickered quietly, earning him a playful glare.

During that week, Harry and Tom had continued their daily routine of a morning exercise, shower with a high likelihood of sex either during or immediately following, breakfast, relaxing, planning, Arithmancy or Runes revision and, of course, the training sessions in the evenings with the other Death Eaters. They'd left the manor a few times, but nothing major. Harry hadn't yet found the time to go back to Diagon Alley to visit Gringotts or purchase his school supplies for the coming school year so they were planning to finally do that in the next few days.

In general, things at the manor had become relatively predictable and comfortable. Harry's meetings with Thor and Barty were both productive and enjoyable. He had found he got along really well with Barty ever since Tom's resurrection ritual and he'd had a good working relationship with Thor since the start of the training sessions. Now he found he really truly liked both of them so they had a good working relationship. Thor had a strong, stony facade, but, beneath it, he had an entertaining, dry, sense of humor. He was also incredibly smart and a good organizer. Harry couldn't help but look forward to his DADA class this coming year because he was sure Thor would make a brilliant teacher. Barty had been great but he had been forced into a role by his task of impersonating Moody. Thor didn't have that restriction.

Harry was enjoying his summer immensely now and, the more time that passed, the more he began to dread the end of August, despite the fact he was sure that, at least, his DADA class would be good this year. It was the first time in his life he could recall not wanting to go back to Hogwarts in the fall.

But, despite everything, Harry knew he needed to go back. As much as Tom was able to teach him, Harry knew he still needed to complete some of his education at Hogwarts. And of course, there were their plans to consider. It was Harry's job to work on taking Hogwarts from within. To divide the students and weaken the Light's support within the school. He would have to play a more active role in the school's social politics this year; working to gain allies and followers, where in the past, he had just gained 'friends'.

It was now August 12th and this particular day was important because of another noteworthy meeting. This meeting was, once again, related to Harry's plans and tasks during his coming year at Hogwarts. Thorfinn was now entirely on board, and Krum was already beginning to subtly work on Hermione some more in his letters. Now was the time for Harry to meet with another person who would act as a secret contact within the school.

Today, Draco was visiting the manor.

During the last advanced training session, Voldemort had instructed Lucius to stay behind afterwards. It was at that point that the Dark Lord finally informed the man when he was to bring his son in to discuss the Dark Lord's plans for Hogwarts and Potter during the coming school year.

With the crack of apparition, Lucius Malfoy appeared in the manor entry hall with a hand placed firmly on his son's shoulder. Draco Malfoy arrived with a practiced grace and stood there with as calm an outward appearance as he could muster but anyone looking close enough would be able to tell that the young Malfoy heir was visibly nervous. This would be the first time he'd be personally meeting the Dark Lord. Draco had been the one to first come across his father the day he returned from a meeting here at this very manor, early on in the summer, when the Dark Lord had finally expressed his displeasure with Lucius's failure to properly care for the diary.

Draco had been stunned at the state his father had been in that day. He had recognized the tremors that had wrought his father's body as after effects of the Cruciatus curse but he had never seen them as bad as they were that day. He had to admit that he had only witnessed a mild version of the unforgivable torture curse during his training in the Dark Arts. What his father had experienced had been the Crucio of the Dark Lord. An angry Dark Lord.

And now that he was setting foot in the Dark sect's headquarters, scheduled to attend a meeting with the Dark Lord himself. Draco was beyond intimidated. The thought that the meeting was supposed to dictate how he would handle Potter in the coming year was also rather unsettling. He still didn't know what to make of Potter's switch in allegiances or what that was going to mean for the coming school year.

Draco felt his father's grip tighten for a moment on his shoulder, drawing the younger wizard's attention to him.

"Come along Draco," the elder Malfoy said as he began to lead his son out of the entry hall and down a long corridor lined with nondescript doors. He came to stop at one of the many doors, opened it, and motioned his son inside. Draco took a step inside feeling his heart pounding in his chest with tension and yet still managed to feel rather disappointed when he realized that the room was empty.

It looked like a sitting room of some sort. Several stuffed armchairs and a couple couches filled the space interspersed with end tables, coffee tables, and the walls featured several bookcases. It was decorated in dark woods, browns, and burgundies. Draco turned to look at his father expectantly.

"You are to wait here until he is ready for you." Lucius said.

Draco nodded his head in acceptance then watched as his father turned and left, closing the door behind him. Draco waited for a split second before heaving out an impatient huff and turning back to the room. He walked over to one of the bookcases and began to aimlessly read the titles. Nothing actually looked worth his attention. He suspected that the Dark Lord probably kept all of his worthwhile books somewhere else.

Another frustrated huff escaped him and he made his way over to one of the couches and sat down. He was probably sitting there for a whole minute before he sensed movement in the room. He sat up more stiffly and quickly swept his eyes around the dimly lit, windowless room, trying to search out whatever it was he'd sensed.

He had just about given it up as his imagination when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Striking white and black stripes contrasted drastically against the dark burgundy carpet, drawing Draco's eyes directly to the large, thick, serpent, now slithering its way out from underneath one of the sofas. Draco felt his whole body tense with fear but he kept it as concealed as he could manage.

He followed the slithering body and noticed that the tail of it was slowly emerging from a hinged vent in the wall near the floor. The tail finally slipped from the wall completely and the vent lid slipped shut with a small tang sound that still managed to echo loudly through the silent room.

Draco was sitting tensely on the edge of the sofa, ready to jump to his feet and bolt the second it looked like the snake was a legitimate threat. Despite the fact that snakes were the symbol of his house, he had to admit that he really had no idea which kinds of snakes were poisonous and which ones were not. He also had no idea what kind of snake this even was. But, if it belonged to the Dark Lord, chances were high that it was deadly.

The snake slithered out into the center of the room and actually raised its head a foot off the floor, looking straight at Draco. It made a hissing noise that, if Draco didn't know it was absolutely absurd, he would swear sounded like the snake was laughing. Draco suddenly felt a shifting in the magic of the room and watched in shock as the large black and white striped snake began to grow, shift, and transform right before his eyes. Where once there sat an 8-foot long serpent now resided a kneeling man with messy black hair. The head of black locks tilted up and a pair of familiar, mischievous, emerald eyes looked up at him from behind round black-rimmed glasses.

Draco gasped and took a step back, as the figure before him rose to his feet with a grace he'd never seen on the other before. Draco stared at him, partially convinced he was imagining things. Because, honestly? This was simply not possible. Sure, he knew that, somehow, Harry Potter had switched to the Dark Lord's side, but the thought that Harry Potter could ever actually be in the Dark Lord's headquarters was just unbelievable. And, if that simple thing wasn't enough for him to question his sanity, this Harry Potter had been a snake. A snake that transformed into Harry Potter.

"P-potter?" Draco gasped, in disbelief.

"Hello Draco," Harry said with a smirk as he took a few steps closer, causing Draco to take another step back, knocking his legs against the sofa behind him and stumbling into the seat. Harry chuckled lightly and came to sit in a wing-backed armchair that rested diagonally from the sofa. He sat back in it with a relaxed posture then brought one leg up to cross over his leg at the ankle.

"Wha... what the bloody hell are you doing here?" Draco exclaimed, still staring at Harry with wide, disbelieving eyes. "And what the hell was that?"

"What was what?" Harry asked with a completely innocent and confused expression. Despite all that, there was still a hint of mischief in his eyes that Draco managed to notice, causing the blond Malfoy heir to narrow his eyes in irritation.

"What was what? That... that snake! You were a bloody snake!"

"Oh, that." Harry said, rolling his eyes. "That's nothing."

"It bloody hell is not nothing!"

Harry's facade broke and he began to chuckle again. "It's called a serpentine transformation. Think of it as something like an animagus transformation, but it doesn't take nearly as long to master, there are multiple forms, although they're all various types of snakes or snake hybrids."

"I've never heard of it before," Draco said, skeptically. "And I would have heard of something like that."

"Ah, but you see, only parselmages can learn the skill."

"Parselmage?"

"Yup."

"And you're a parselmage?"

"Yup."

Draco scowled at Harry. "And why exactly are you a bloody parselmage? I mean... what does that even mean?"

"You know how I can speak and understand parseltongue?"

"Yeah," Draco replied hesitantly.

"That's a part of it."

"That doesn't answer my question at all! I never understood why the hell you were a parselmouth, anyway! It doesn't make sense! Only descendants of the Slytherin line are supposed to be able to do that, and no Potters have any ties to Slytherin blood!"

"Oh, I am a descendant of Slytherin. Just not on the Potter side," Harry said dismissively.

Draco just gaped at him in disbelief. "That's absurd! If it's not the Potters then how the hell would you be related to Slytherin?"

"My mum."

"Your mum? You mum was filthy mudblood. How the hell could you be descended from Slytherin on your mum's side?"

Harry narrowed his eyes for a moment before shifting back to bland amusement. "Ah, but you see, that filthy mudblood was the great-great-granddaughter of a squib who was disowned from the last of Slytherin's descendants." Harry replied matter-of-factually.

"What?" Draco gasped.

"Yeah, crazy, huh?" Harry said with a smirk. "We only really discovered it this summer. It really only took minimal digging to confirm it, once we first started to suspect it. My great-great-great-grandmother... I may either be adding, or missing a great there, I don't exactly remember, is the Dark Lord's great-aunt. So in a way, he and I are cousins. Funny world, yeah?"

"Are you joking?" Draco asked with an utterly dumbfounded expression on his face.

"I'm really not," Harry said, completely serious, despite his grin.

"The Dark Lord is your cousin?"

"Distant cousin." Harry pointed out. "You know, technically you and I are cousins too since we share a common ancestor in Cygnus Black. He's your great-great-grandfather from your mum's side. His son Pollux Black was your great-grandfather, while his daughter Dorea Black is my great-grandmother. She married Charlus Potter. Did you know that? I only just discovered it this summer while doing all the genealogy research. I have to admit, I was rather stunned to learn I was blood related to you lot."

Draco blinked as his eyes slowly widened.

Harry's grin grew wider. "You didn't know, did you?"

Draco's mouth parted slightly but nothing came out as his face twisted into a grimace, causing Harry to chuckle and Draco's expression to shift into a scowl.

For a long moment after that, Draco just stared at him, apparently lost for words. Finally, Draco seemed to recover enough of his senses to realize he had completely lost control of his reactions in front of an unknown quantity. He schooled his expression and sat up straighter. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"I've been living here."

Draco blinked. "What? Living here?"

"Yes. In the manor. This is where I've been living this summer."

"Wha... why?"

"Because my muggle relatives are pure filth and I can just about guarantee that if I had returned to their house this summer I would have killed them."

"Oh, well, that's probably a good reason for you to not go there, but why the hell would you come to stay here?"

Harry shrugged. "The Dark Lord offered."

"The Dark Lord offered to let you stay at his headquarters," Draco echoed incredulously.

Harry grinned. "Yup."

Draco closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he took in a few slow breaths. Harry was clearly amused by all of this, and it was only making the whole thing that much more frustrating and bizarre.

"Alright, so why are you here, right now? I mean... as, in this room?"

"Well, the Dark Lord and your father are currently discussing Ministry things but once Severus and Thor get here, me and you will be joining them in a meeting to discuss our plans for the coming school year. Although I don't think that Lucius will be joining us for that meeting, not sure what he's going to do during it. Maybe he'll leave and come back to get you later. Anyway, until then, I really had nothing better to do and I felt like dropping in and saying hello."

Draco continued to look at Harry as if he were absolutely insane, and Harry could see a battle going on behind the young Malfoy's eyes as to which of his thousands of questions to ask first.

"So, you're going to be in on this meeting?"

Harry raised a single, incredulous eyebrow. "The meeting is about how you're going to be helping Thor and me in our efforts at Hogwarts. Of course I'd be there."

"Who's Thor?"

"Thorfinn Rowle. He's going to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year at Hogwarts. He also happens to be a Death Eater," Harry said as a smug grin plastered its way across his face.

"Really?" Draco asked, perking up slightly.

"Yes. He's pretty brilliant, really. He's been working as a private tutor for about a decade, and he's professionally competed in the Dueling Championship League in the past. Won several years even."

Draco's eyes widened before his brow furrowed slightly. "Rowle... actually, I'm pretty sure I've heard of him. I think he used to tutor Daphne Greengrass and her younger sister during the summers."

Harry shrugged. "I wouldn't doubt it. Anyway, over the summer I managed to get the Minister firmly lodged in my back pocket and I talked him into passing a law that allows the Ministry to appoint a professor if Hogwarts' Headmaster is unable to fill the post. Then I mentioned that I had just the perfect candidate for the job and, bam!, Rowle gets offered the job. The whole thing worked out amazingly well."

"Wait, you've got the Minister in your back pocket? Don't be absurd!" Draco exclaimed with a scoff.

Harry just smirked back. "I've been surprisingly busy this summer, Draco. And my efforts have been extremely successful. Not only that, but with a single interview with the Prophet, I've managed to get a huge chunk of the wizarding public, and a number of very powerful political figures willing to back me on some severely controversial legislation that, if handled delicately enough, could lead down the oh-so-slippery slope of removing magical muggleborns from their muggle parents at a young age and placing them in magical homes where they'll get a proper education and upbringing. But of course, all the public sees is a move to protect helpless muggleborns and magical orphans from abusive muggles who fear and hate magic. So it's pity, guilt, and it's helping the children, and really now, who doesn't want to protect orphans from abuse?" Harry leaned back, raised his hands up and threaded his fingers behind his head, taking on a very relaxed and accomplished, smug, look.

Draco just gaped at him. "When the bloody hell did you become such a Slytherin?"

Harry laughed and shrugged. "I think I've always had the potential, but it really came out in full force a little under a year ago."

Draco shook his head in exasperation before going quiet. He looked thoughtful for a moment and his brow furrowed slightly. "Was... was any of that stuff true?"

"What stuff?"

"The stuff in the Prophet about how they treated you. Those muggles?"

"Oh that stuff. Well, yes and no. I exaggerated a bit here and there for the sympathy vote. My uncle only whipped me with his belt like twice, I guess. It wasn't really a regular thing, and he only did it these two times when I performed accidental magic in front of my cousin because they were afraid I'd contaminate him with my freakishness or something." Harry rolled his eyes and sneered.

"They whipped you?" Draco exclaimed with stunned horror written across his face. He paused and grimaced. "Did they really make you do all their house work?"

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "My muggle family," he sneered the word 'family', "treated me just as bad, if not worse, than your father treats your house elves."

Draco blanched in horror, which actually made Harry want to laugh, but he refrained.

There was a brief knock on the door and both Harry and Draco turned their attention to it, just as it opened and Lucius stepped through.

"Draco, the Dark Lord is rea..." the words died off and the elder Malfoy's eyes went slightly wide as they locked onto Harry, sitting there. "Potter..." Lucius said with a barely contained sneer as he took in Harry's relaxed position on the couch. "I was unaware that you were here."

"I've actually been here all summer long. Amazingly enough, no one actually noticed. I've found it quite amusing."

"You have been here all summer?" Lucius echoed in disbelief. Harry just smirked in return.

"So, I would assume that the Dark Lord is ready for us? I take it that Severus and Thor have arrived then?" Harry said, his voice suddenly shifting to a far more serious, down-to-business tone that seemed to catch Lucius by surprise.

"Yes, they have both arrived. I'm to take Draco to the ma..."

"The main conference room, yes," Harry said, cutting him off. "Shall we?" he asked, standing up and looking expectantly at Draco. The Malfoy heir instantly was to his feet as well, letting his nerves show for the briefest of moments before he had them mastered.

Lucius scowled at Harry but turned on the spot and began to make his way down the hall towards the conference room with Harry quickly taking up stride beside him, and Draco trailing directly behind.

When they got into the conference room Harry walked right past Lucius and Draco then around the table to sit beside the Dark Lord, causing both Malfoy's to look at him as if he were either insane or suicidal. No one else in the room seemed to outwardly pay this any significant mind, although Severus did look a bit startled so neither Malfoy revealed their shock at the sight.

"Ah, this must be the young Draco Malfoy," Voldemort said in a high, soft voice that sent another shiver of fear down Draco's spine. A reminding tap on his back from his father and Draco took a few steps forward and slipped down onto one knee and bowed his head.

"My Lord," Draco said smoothly. "It is an honor to be called into your service."

"I am glad you feel so, young Draco," Voldemort said airily. "You may rise."

Draco stood tall and proud, but kept his gaze averted down to the table, rather than meet those piercing red eyes directly.

"You may take the seat beside Severus. Lucius, you may leave. Severus can make sure that young Draco returns home safely."

Harry watched a moment of apprehension and hesitation flash across the elder Malfoy's flawless mask before he bowed low. "Yes m'Lord," Lucius said before giving one last glance at his son and then departing the room, closing the door behind him.

Draco swallowed the lump in his throat and took a few smooth strides to the empty chair to his godfather's left and sat down.

Severus Snape had had several vague ideas in mind as to what this meeting would pertain to, however it was beginning to appear that his assumptions were all wrong.

He had only been vaguely familiar with Thorfinn Rowle during the first war, and the only interaction with the man since then were the weekly training sessions and, since Severus most certainly didn't require instruction, his direct contact with the man had been limited. From his experience with the training sessions, he could tell that Rowle at least knew what he was doing and seemed a fair enough instructor. Of course, in the training sessions, he was instructing adults. Instructing an entire school of children was a far greater challenge or, at least, one would assume so. Severus would readily acknowledge that the egos of some of his fellow Death Eaters definitely complicated some of the training sessions.

Still, being a decent instructor would still put the man far above most of his predecessors. Severus was loath to admit it, but Lupin had probably been one of the best DADA teachers at Hogwarts in the last decade. Followed by Barty, masquerading as that insane ex-Auror, 'Mad Eye' Moody.

Severus really didn't have any significant worries about how Rowle would do when it came to teaching. He was curious as to how exactly the Dark Lord and Rowle intended to slip instruction in the Dark Arts in with a Defense class under the watchful gaze of Albus Dumbledore. But that was apparently less of a worry since the Minister himself was the one imposing Rowle on the school. The headmaster could do nothing about it.

But this meeting wasn't really about Rowle. No. This meeting was about Harry Potter. It was about how Severus, Rowle, and young Draco Malfoy would be playing their roles to secretly assist, and Severus had assumed, to also keep a watchful eye on Potter. But perhaps that wasn't the case, after all.

While he had known that the basic nature of the meeting would deeply involve Potter, he was still stunned to see the boy himself in attendance. Severus had been under the impression, admittedly from Dumbledore, that Potter was secreted away in some heavily warded villa in France with his boyfriend. In all of the meetings and training sessions that he had attended at the manor over the summer, the Dark Lord had hardly even mentioned Potter so Severus had suspected that the two had had minimal contact. Severus had assumed that the Dark Lord had had some input on Potter's interview with the Prophet since the ideals he was so cunningly introducing were remarkably similar to those of the Dark Lord's but, outside of that, he had thought it safe to assume the two were barely in contact.

Speaking of that interview in the Prophet; that morning had been... amusing. Well, amusing to him. The Order had been in a frenzy and Dumbledore had been visibly disgruntled which was rare for the normally jovial old coot.

Of course, the largest part of the interview that the Order members had latched onto was Potter's treatment by the muggles that Dumbledore had left him with. Molly Weasley had practically been boiling with rage at Albus. Severus found it amazing that not one of them seemed to suspect anything with Potter's suggested political goals. If Dumbledore did, he didn't express it. All of the Potter brat's ideas seemed reasonable given his supposed upbringing and the way he had presented them in the article. Severus hated to admit it but the approach the boy had taken was impressively devious. He dismissed his appreciation for it by convincing himself the Dark Lord had probably played a much larger role in the whole thing that bloody Potter had.

One thing about the article had caused him to pause though. He had to admit that part of him actually wanted to inquire as to the validity and accuracy of the interview's contents in regards to Potter's upbringing. He remembered Petunia Evans from his youth and the girl had been downright wretched. Her jealousy over Lily's magic and the preferential treatment she got from their parents was clear. Severus could imagine the jealous little girl growing into a very bitter and resentful woman. Could she really have taken it all out on her nephew?

He had always assumed that Potter had grown up just as pampered and spoiled as his bastard father. Having those ideas threatened shook the very foundation of many of his beliefs of the boy and he didn't like it one bit.

Now he was sitting in the Dark Lord's conference room, sitting to one side of a wide table with Rowle to his right, Draco to his left, and oddly enough, Potter was sitting opposite him next to the Dark Lord.

The boy's placement at the opposite side of the table was... odd. He didn't know what to make of that. In fact, the only other time Severus had seen someone sit on that side of the table with the Dark Lord was when Harris was sitting in on a meeting. The fact that Potter had walked into the room without the slightest hesitation and taken his seat there added another level of curiosity to the situation. Potter had clearly been here before enough times to feel completely comfortable doing it.

"Thor, did you bring those copies of the list?" Potter asked suddenly, drawing Severus' gaze to snap up to Harry and then dart over to Rowle beside him.

"Of course," Rowle replied with a curt nod.

"Good. Give Draco and Severus each a copy. I want their opinions on it."

Severus looked back to Potter and scowled at the brat's use of his first name. He was convinced the only reason Potter did it was to irritate him. Suddenly, two pieces of parchment slid across the table in front of him. One kept going, coming to a stop in front of Draco, while the other stopped directly in front of Severus.

"This is the list of names that we intend to invite to a special club that we'll be running at the school." Potter started, getting straight to business. Severus couldn't help but glance over at the Dark Lord, surprised that he was letting Potter take control of the meeting. However, the Dark Lord didn't seem perturbed by this at all and Potter just kept going.

"This was mostly compiled from Barty's suggestions. My exposure to the student population has been fairly limited over the years. Unfortunately, I've allowed myself to be extremely isolated and those that I did associate with were primarily Light affiliated so I'm not very familiar with those who are already inclined towards the Dark Arts. That's where you two come in. Since Barty was masquerading as Mad-Eye Moody, a notorious Dark Wizard catcher, most students with Dark leanings tended to avoid him. I'm sure that at least some of them managed to effectively avoid his notice. You two would much more likely be aware of exactly who really should be in the 'club', so I want you to add your own selection of names to the list."

Potter paused as Severus and Draco both took some time to read over the list.

"What's the difference between the list of 'intermediates' and 'advanced'?" Draco asked, still looking down at the list. His body tensed the moment after he asked and Severus saw his eyes dart up then glance somewhat fearfully at the Dark Lord, as if he suddenly wondered if he were actually allowed to ask questions.

"Thor, do you want to explain?" Potter said.

Rowle nodded then shifted slightly in his chair so he was angled towards Severus and Draco a bit. "The school, en mass, will be informed that I'm forming two 'extra-curricular' clubs for those interested in recovering from the shoddy and inconsistent Defense curriculum so far. I'll be splitting the groups into two sections. 'Advanced,' and 'Intermediate'. The advanced club will in reality, be a Dark Arts club. Intermediate will be subtly introducing dark spells. Those that show promise and a certain open-mindedness will be transitioned into the 'advanced' group. Of course I'll also be introducing some Dark spells into the standard class curriculum, but it'll be done to a limited extent and only with spells that are not overtly obvious."

"I'll be the official 'assistant' in the intermediate class," Harry said. "I'm hoping that by having the 'Boy-Who-Lived' promote the various subjects we'll be studying, more of the normally Light-inclined students will be a little more open to participating and learning these things."

"I'll also be introducing some magical history studies in my lessons," Thor picked up the conversation. "Thanks to Binns, we have generations of wizards who are completely ignorant to the origins of our magic and the nature of affiliated magic."

"Basically, the idea is to open a few eyes and dissolve some of the bias created by years of British education being overrun with Light magic dogma." Harry finished up.

Severus couldn't help but feel mildly impressed by their goals. He doubted that a single school year would be able to undo decades of damage caused by the biased curriculum, but it was still an admirable goal. And the fact that Potter seemed to a large part of the planning was a bit... Severus didn't know what it was, honestly.

Draco was looking over the list in front of him again when he spoke again. "So the people under the 'intermediate' list are the people who we think could be wooed to the Dark, but aren't currently open to the idea, right?"

"Correct," Potter said with a nod of his head.

"I think I may know a few who could go there. I know of quite a few you missed for the 'advanced' group."

"I figured you would." Potter said offhandedly. "Severus, how about you?"

Severus bristled again at Potter's use of his first name and sneered mildly as he responded. "There are certainly quite a few you've missed. The upper-year Slytherins are a given but I can think of quite a few of the older Ravenclaws who I know also follow the Dark ways who are not on this list."

"And for the intermediate group?" Potter continued, "I suspected that we could get a lot of Ravenclaws into the intermediate group with a good chance of moving them into Darker territory as time went on."

"Yes, that would be a reasonable assumption," Snape drawled. "However, the more we introduce those who are not already deeply ingrained in the Dark's ideals, the greater the risk we bring that someone will open their mouth and reveal things to the wrong individuals."

"That should not be a problem," Voldemort drawled, drawing the rooms' attention suddenly back to the fact that he was there, and causing Draco to actually squeak. Admittedly, it was very quiet, but Potter seemed endlessly amused by it, and Draco quickly began to scowl angrily at the Gryffindor while his cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment.

"My Lord?" Severus asked, wondering what safeguards, exactly, the Dark Lord had in mind.

"I am creating a magical contract, disguised as a sign-up sheet, that everyone entering the 'Advanced' group will have to sign before they can attend any of the meetings. It will create several layers of protections. The most obvious one will be that anyone who has signed it will be incapable of speaking about anything that goes on during the class in the presence of anyone who is not already in the group. But beyond that, it will even protect their memories and knowledge of the meetings from discovery through Legilimency, and even protect them from the use of truth potions, even Veritaserum."

Severus was impressed. It would take some rather complex magic to ensure a contract like that would actually be effective. But this was the Dark Lord, so it really wasn't surprising. What was surprising was that the Dark Lord would bother to do this himself and not delegate the task to someone else. This was just for a Defense class for schoolchildren. He could imagine that the Dark Lord had far more important matters to deal with in the Ministry or Wizengamot.

Still, Severus wasn't stupid enough to voice his curiosities aloud.

The meeting progressed smoothly from there. Severus and Draco spent some time going over exactly who they believed should be added to the lists and then the discussion transitioned to discussion on exactly what they could do to assist Potter during the school year. Apparently, Potter would be regularly leaving the castle and portkeying to the manor. Should any suspicions ever arise from the rest of the faculty or from any of the students, Severus and Draco, along with Rowle, would be asked to help cover for him.

Severus was instructed to keep a tight watch on the other professors and on Dumbledore especially, for any suspicions they might have of either Harry, Rowle, or the defense 'clubs'. He was also to try and diffuse any suspicions whenever possible.

Rowle would be wearing some sort of glamor ring during the school year that would hide his Dark Mark from view as well as mask its magical signature to keep the wards Dumbledore had added to the castle from identifying him as a Death Eater. Apparently, the Dark Lord had supplied Barty Crouch with a similar magical signature block for when he had been in the school the previous year. Should Dumbledore or any of the other teachers ever begin to suspect Rowle's true allegiances, Severus was to inform the Dark Lord and Rowle immediately.

Finally, the meeting was concluded and the Dark Lord and Potter left together then quickly disappeared somewhere.

"Did you know Potter was living here?" Draco asked in a hissed whisper as soon as Potter and the Dark Lord were gone from the room. Severus blanched minutely, caught off guard by Draco's question.

"Don't be absurd, Draco. Potter is not living here."

Thor chuckled from beside him as the man finished gathering up the papers he had brought with him. Severus glanced over at him through narrowed eyes.

"Actually, the kid's right. Potter has been living here."

"What?" Severus exclaimed, his surprise actually showing for a moment.

"And he can turn into a snake!" Draco exclaimed.

Severus turned his incredulous gaze back on the young Slytherin. "What in Merlin's name does that mean?"

"He said it's like an animagus transformation but it's not. He called it a serpentine transformation and said that only people who descend from the Slytherin line can do it. He turned into a great bloody snake right in front of me! Or rather, he was already the snake and then he turned back into himself."

"And why exactly would Potter be able to turn into perform this serpentine transformation if it is something that only descendants of the Slytherin line can do?" Severus sneered.

"That's the thing! He said he's the Dark Lord's cousin!" Draco exclaimed.

"That is the absolutely most absurd thing you've ever said to me." Severus said in a flat, disbelieving tone. "Potter was probably just lying to you. Stupid brat was just trying to get a reaction out of you."

"I would think so too, but... but I think he really meant it!" Draco said, looking both stunned and disbelieving of his own words. "He said it's from his mudblood mother's side. That she descended from some squib that got disowned from the Slytherin line. Said his great-great-great grandmother is the Dark Lord's great-aunt, so they're distant cousins! Cousins!"

Severus blanched.

Lily? Lily was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin? Impossible...

A glance over at Rowle showed that this at least, was also news to him. He may have known about Potter supposedly living in the Dark Lord's manor all summer, but he apparently wasn't aware of Potter's claims at being the man's only living relative.

Suddenly a memory flashed across Severus' mind and he looked back at Draco. "You said he turned into a snake? What did it look like?"

"It was huge. At least eight feet long, and had black and white stripes down its whole body." Draco said.

A big black and white striped snake.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a strained groan. Every meeting he had had with the Dark Lord all summer long had been in the company of a large black and white striped snake. Every meeting. Had that seriously been Potter? And if so, what reason did the Dark Lord have in allowing Potter in on their meetings? Why would the Dark Lord trust Potter that much?

Could Potter truly be a descendant of Slytherin? Lily a descendant of Salazar Slytherin?

It gave him a lot to think about. In fact, he wondered if this somehow explained the brat's survival all those years ago. Did the fact that Lily shared the same blood as the Dark Lord play some role in why she was able to effectively protect her son from his master's killing curse?

Severus had believed that it was somehow related to the fact that he had requested that the Dark Lord spare Lily's life. The fact that she actually had the choice – that the Dark Lord truly was willing to allow her to live, but she had still chosen to die for the sake of her child – that, that was why her 'sacrifice' had worked, when no other parent before her had been able to protect their child by dying.

Was her relation to the Dark Lord by blood somehow also responsible for it? Perhaps it was a combination of things. That all of these different factors, alone, would be insufficient. But when combined were somehow enough to block the killing curse.

If it were true, it would relieve a modicum of his guilt concerning the Dark Lord's fall. He had often worried, over the years, if the Dark Lord would place some of the blame for his disembodiment on Severus, since it was his request to spare Lily Evans' life. But the Dark Lord had not yet even mentioned it since his return. Severus wondered if the Dark Lord had even considered it as a possible cause.

Finally, the three left the conference room and made their ways back to the entrance hall. Rowle left first, and then Severus side-along Apparated Draco back to Malfoy manor before using their floo to return to his private quarters at Hogwarts.

He had a lot to think about.

One thing was for sure. The coming year at Hogwarts was sure to be filled with surprises.

The following day Harry and Tom finally went to Diagon Alley and Gringotts. Harry went as himself with no disguising glamors at all. However, he did have a powerful notice-me-not charm on him. Tom went as his Nicodemus glamor.

They went to Gringotts first and while there Harry inquired about the property he apparently owned in Ireland. With a goblin escort Harry was taken into the family vault and allowed access to the keystone that would gain him entry to the properties wards and given instructions on how to enter them and then modify them himself. The goblins also provided him with a detailed written summary on the estate that had been included with the account information.

Finally the pair left the bank and made quick work of picking up all of the supplies Harry needed that he didn't already have. They didn't dawdle in the Alley this time and didn't even bother to visit Knockturn Alley since they had other things to attend to and were somewhat pressed for time.

The pair Apparated back to the manor and went up to their bedroom so Harry could deposit his new school supplies and read over the information on how to access the Potter estate. Harry sat on the edge of the bed, skimming through the description of the property while Tom examined the ward keystone.

"It's called Morhda Abbey and it's located in Connemara, in the west of Ireland and its described as 'nestled at the base of Druchruach Mountain on the northern shore of Lough Pollacappul'." Harry read.

"This is interesting. It says here that it was originally built by muggles as an Abbey, it was actually a nunnery!" Harry said snickering. "Let's see... apparently the duchess that ended up owning the thing after the nuns left, sold it off when her husband died and left her in a huge debt thanks to a gambling problem. The Potter's purchased it and converted it to be magical estate house. It's apparently even got an old gothic church on the property, and also has six acres of Victorian walled gardens, and some greenhouses, although I imagine it's all horribly overgrown.

"The castle itself sounds quite large by the description here. Multiple wings and four stories tall in the two towers. There are 33 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, 4 sitting rooms, a ballroom, billiard room, library, study, schoolroom, smoking room and various offices built for domestic staff residences like the butler, cook, housekeeper and other servants. It says here that several of them were converted to suit house elves after the Potter's purchased the abbey and converted it over to suit their needs."

"Hm," Tom hummed with mild interest as he looked up from the keystone. "Sounds promising. Shall we be going then?"

Harry stood up and folded the parchment before sticking it into the deep pocket of his over-robe.

"Sure."

The pair went down to the entry hall and activated the port-key feature of the keystone to transport them directly to the property.

They appeared on a dirt road that appeared to be going through a large empty valley at the base of a mountain and a short distance from the edge of a large lake. Directly in front of them was a large roughly carved bolder about five feet tall, three feet wide and deep. On the front was a small intend that Harry knew would fit the keystone.

Tom stood to the side and handed the keystone to Harry. Harry accepted it and, using his wand, made a small slash across his palm. He held the keystone in his hand as the blood pooled around it for a moment. The blood seeped into the keystone and after a brief glow the slash on his palm healed. Next he reached out and held the keystone in the small indent in the large bolder. It glowed for a moment and the surface of the stone was suddenly covered with runes that hadn't been visible before.

Harry could feel the hum of old magical wards coming to life and scanning him, recognizing him as its new master. Where there had been nothing but a large empty valley, he was now faced with an 8-foot tall overgrown hedge, a tall wrought iron gate, and in the distance, a large stone castle. Finally, he removed the keystone from the bolder, no longer needing it, and slipped it into the pockets of his robes.

Harry pulled out his wand and tapped the entry stone while speaking the ward spell that would identify another master. Tom stepped up then, slashing open his palm then placed his hand flat against the stone. The magic of wards scanned him and accepted him as well. With this setting, Tom would have just as much control over the castle's wards as Harry did. Harry had wanted it this way since Tom was the ward master, not him. Tom would be adding to the wards significantly if they decided to use the old abbey as the dark sect's new headquarters.

With the initial ward recognition completed the two opened the gate and began to make their way down the long gravel path past the gatehouse, over a stone bridge that passed over a moat that connected into the loch to the rear of the estate. Harry paused at this point and looked out over the large whitish-gray stone castle before him.

"Wow, I own a bloody castle," Harry said with a bit of awe in his voice as he looked out over the tremendously impressive ancient building.

"It is quite impressive," Tom said also taking in the sight of it.

The pair spent the rest of the day exploring the estate. Most of the inside had been layered with preservative charms so at least nothing was rotting or falling apart too terribly. Mostly things were just incredibly dusty. There was some mild water damage in some areas where there had been some water seepage around windows and in one of the towers where the roof had collapsed in.

The castle already had dungeons that could easily be converted to prisoner cells. It had an extensive wine cellar that Harry suspected Tom would likely convert into a potions lab. The interiors were decorated tastefully, the kitchen and bathrooms were already converted to use a magical plumbing system although it could use some updating.

The views were wonderful from almost any room. You were either looking out over a lush forest, rocky mountains, or the large beautiful loch that was nestled up right to the back side of the castle beyond the gardens.

One interesting thing that caught Harry's notice was the presence of a number of magical portraits, and a Potter Family Tree tapestry, in a large drawing room in the west wing. There were more magical portraits in a few other bedrooms and in a few hallways, but it was the ones in the drawing room that caught Harry's interest the most. The largest one, hanging on the wall directly opposite the tapestry, was Harrison Potter, Charlus Potter's father. While Tom continued to examine a few more rooms on that floor, Harry got caught up in an interesting, and enlightening conversation with his great-grandfather.

Finally, Tom had returned and he and Harry and resumed their exploration of the abbey. By the end of the day, as far as Harry was concerned, it was perfect. Tom agreed and said he would purchase the contracts of a couple new elves and set them to the task of fixing the place up and making it more habitable while he worked on adding to the wards. Morhda Abbey was large enough that once the complete relocation was finished, Mixey, Kibby, and Grader wouldn't be enough to take care of the large estate alone, especially once there were Death Eaters living in the castle. Five elves would probably be suitable though, so the new purchases would be worth it.

They left as the sun was setting and returned to Riddle manor and beginning making some plans for their future headquarters.
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Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness