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Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness	By : Danyealle Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Voldemort Views: 297597 -:- 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
- 11
- 12
- 13
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 11

As far as Harry was concerned, the last month of his summer holiday was passing far too quickly. It was now August 20th and Harry was scheduled to visit Hogwarts to meet with Professors Babbling and Vector to take his Arithmancy and Ancient Runes placement exams. He had gotten his approval for a student-issue time-turner already. The time-turner would be delivered directly to Professor McGonagall and Harry would receive it on the first of September. So, now that it was officially approved, there was nothing preventing him from switching his electives. All that was left was to be determined was which year he be placed within each of the subjects.

He had asked if there was somewhere other than Hogwarts where he could take the tests but McGonagall had said that wasn't possible. She did ask him where he was staying, saying that a contingent of adult wizards could come to escort him to the school to ensure his safety. Harry knew that this question was all Dumbledore so had, politely, turned down. In his response, he mentioned that his friend would be coming with him to side-along Apparate him directly to the gates of Hogwarts. He even asked if it was possible for his friend to be allowed inside the school so he could wait for him in the castle rather than down in Hogsmeade.

McGonagall had not been committed in her response, saying that 'they would see when he got there'. Tom had thought that they would most likely approve of his entry into the castle just so that they could grill him for information while Harry was taking his exams. Harry wasn't really sure how he felt about that. He was definitely concerned about Tom being 'grilled' by McGonagall, and, quite likely, Dumbledore himself. It seemed rather risky to Harry, if he was being completely honest, but Tom seemed rather excited by the potential challenge. He seemed utterly convinced that he could completely fool both McGonagall and Dumbledore should he be faced with either of them.

Plus, the prospect of being allowed into the school by the old man was utterly amusing to him, not to mention potentially beneficial in any future conflicts. Once he was allowed in, the wards would remember him and he would always be allowed back unless the permission was specifically revoked by Dumbledore. While it was entirely possible that the old man would do just that once he had left the school, the chance remained that Dumbledore would not and Tom would forever have an open invitation into the school.

Harry had trouble imagining that Dumbledore would remain completely ignorant of Tom's true identity but the Dark Lord was confident. Harry had still been considerably hesitant about the whole thing but stopped his protests when Tom finally conceded that he was concerned about leaving Harry in 'enemy territory' with no way of personally retrieving him should something go wrong. It was one thing to have Severus and Thorfinn both in the school but Tom still felt better if he knew that he could go in to get to Harry personally if the need should arise.

The fact that Tom was worried was enough to halt Harry's protests, completely.

So, the morning of August 20th Tom and Harry prepared for their day at Hogwarts. Tom was wearing his glamor ring with his persona as Nicodemus Tomaras. He also cast several additional spells upon himself just for extra safety purposes.

Tom's Nicodemus glamor looked about 17 years old with pale blue eyes, soft features, round cheeks and full lips. His bronze-colored hair was short and slightly wavy, but neatly styled. The robe he was wearing was form-fitting on his upper torso with trim lines, flowing smoothly into the long hanging bottom that went down to his knees. The robe was black with silver trimming, while his crisp slacks were black with silver pin stripping and his shoes were a smooth polished black.

Harry was, of course, without his ring today. His black hair was left free in all its untamable glory today. Hair that was, once-upon-a-time, a short messy fringe against his forehead was now chin length and left to frame each side of his face. The rest of his hair now reached the base of his neck and was left in soft black waves. Peaking out just below his ear on his right side, just barely visible amongst the dark hair, was the white ivory with black lacquer front, spade earring.

His wardrobe featured a sleeveless robe with a high neck. It was fastened from his collar down to just below his waist where the robe was then left open. It went down to just below his knees and the pants he wore beneath it were very snug, tucked into calf, high black leather boots. It was a considerably different look that he had ever sported before in the presence of his professors but he had no intention of dressing in ratty muggle clothing just to fit an out-dated image his professors had of him.

Harry was supposed to show up at Hogwarts at 10 am, so once it was ten 'til, he and Tom went to the entry hall, Tom took hold of Harry's arm and side-along Apparated Harry directly to the gates of Hogwarts. Obviously, Harry could have Apparated himself, but he wasn't supposed to be able to do that, and the excuse for 'Nick' accompanying him was for the sake of transportation.

Harry grimaced upon landing. He detested side-along apparition, and the nasty queasy feeling it always left him with. After taking a few deep breaths, he managed to settle his uneasy stomach before looking back at Tom, who was looking back with visible amusement. Harry rolled his eyes and glared playfully at Tom, who only smirked in response.

The pair turned together to face the large gate that marked the official entrance to Hogwarts, and also the edge of the wards. The gates were closed at the moment and Harry walked up to them then looked between the bars, down the road that lead towards the school. In the distance, he could see a figure approaching and quickly realized that it was McGonagall.

Harry turned back and gave one more hesitant look at Tom.

"It will be fine." Tom said in an uncharacteristically soft and reassuring tone. Harry smiled at him thankfully and took in a deep breath, centering himself.

"Just a moment, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said as she reached the gate and swished her wand, opening it. She took a step out and her eyes widened as they fell upon Harry. They trailed from his feet all the way up to his hair in the span of a second, taking in his appearance. Whatever she thought of him, she masked away, quickly directing her gaze at Harry's companion.

"Hello Professor," Harry said with a kind smile. "I'd like to introduce you to my friend Nicodemus Tomaras. Nick, this is my Transfiguration Professor, my head of house, and the Deputy Headmistress of the school; Minerva McGonagall."

"Madam, it is an honor to meet you. Harry has spoken quite highly of you," Tom said in a smooth voice as he took her hand and gently brushed his lips on her knuckles. McGonagall's eyes widened slightly in surprise before she gave a small smile. Harry almost could have sworn she even blushed slightly.

"Oh, well... It's a pleasure to meet you as well," she replied, a bit flustered by the unexpected introduction. "So am I to assume you are the friend that Mr. Potter has been spending his summer with?"

"That would be an accurate assumption," Tom replied with a small grin. "I hope it's not a problem that I came along. I provided Harry with the most direct means of transport. My home isn't connected to the floo network, you see."

"Ah yes. He mentioned that you would be side-along Apparating him. So you are of age then?"

"Yes, that's correct. I turned seventeen last January."

"You were never a student here and yet you knew where Hogwarts was in order to Apparate directly to it?" McGonagall posed her inquiry in a rather indirect way.

"You are correct that I did not attend Hogwarts. I was home schooled by my godmother, you see. However, about a year ago, she passed away and I moved to Hogsmeade. I actually worked part-time in Honeyduke's in the evenings while I studied for my NEWTs on my own. That's how Harry and I met, actually. It's also, why I know the location of the school. It's hard not to notice the large castle on the hill while living just down the road from it for the better part of nine months."

"Ah, that would explain it. My condolences about your godmother. I can only imagine how difficult that must have been for you at such a young age."

"Thank you," Tom said with a small incline of his head.

"Professor?" Harry said, drawing her attention back to him.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"I was wondering if it would be possible for Nick to come into the castle while I take my tests? He could just wait in the library or perhaps the Gryffindor common room. I just didn't want him to have to go all the way down to Hogsmeade to wait for me."

McGonagall looked at the pair of them for a long silent moment, contemplating the request as if this were the first time she had heard it. Harry knew, however, that she had probably already discussed this possibility with the old coot and received instructions on how to proceed. Finally, she looked as if she had reluctantly come to a decision.

"I suppose that will be acceptable. Mr. Tomaras can wait for you in the school library. It's just down the hall from the classroom I have set up for you to take your tests in."

Harry smiled. "That's great. Thank you, Professor."

McGonagall nodded and motioned towards the gate. They took a few steps closer and as Tom was beckoned towards the gate, McGonagall tapped her wand on his head and Harry saw the briefest twitch of annoyance flash behind Tom's eyes at the action. Nevertheless, the annoyance was instantly banished and Tom looked every bit the slightly overwhelmed but curious youth he was pretending to be. Harry felt the shift in the wards as Tom was granted access and a devilish smirk graced his lips for the briefest of seconds before it was gone.

The three then made their way up the path, through the main doors and into the castle. Harry played 'tour guide', pointing out then explaining certain features of the castle and Tom pulled off a remarkably convincing act of someone seeing the castle for the first time. 'Oo'ing and 'Awe'ing at all the appropriate moments, asking questions that one might ask had they no previous exposure to the ancient, magical castle.

They made their way to the library where Tom was left to his own devices for a bit while McGonagall led Harry down the hall to an empty classroom where Professor Vector was already waiting.

Harry was quickly set to his placement test. It was definitely not an easy test. While he felt confident that he had come a long way under Tom's tutelage, his instinctual grasp on his magic gave him no advantage when it came to Arithmancy. It was all about numbers, equations, logic, and magical theory. Many beginner Arithmancy texts focused a lot on simply memorizing established magical formulas but Tom's approach had focused far more on understanding the why and how that brought those formulas into existence in the first place. He wanted to make sure that Harry would understand the fundamentals enough that he would be able to solve problems even if he had never heard of the established method to find the solution.

Harry was thankful for it because there were definitely a number of questions on the test about things he never covered before that moment but was still able to muddle his way through.

When he was finally done with the test, he felt mildly mentally exhausted. He had felt over the link mostly boredom from Tom. There had been a few instances of peaked interest when Harry assumed the elder wizard had found some book in the library that caught his interest. He wondered if Tom would actually try to slip into the restricted section while he was there.

Harry got a brief break while Professor Vector gathered up her things and promised Harry that she would have the test graded in a day or two at the latest and that she would inform Minerva as to which section Harry could go into. She left the room and one of the castle's house elves popped in offering Harry tea or pumpkin juice. Harry was a bit startled by the little creatures' appearance but gratefully accepted a cup of tea.

Professor Babbling came in a few moments later with her placement exam for Ancient Runes. She actually spent about ten minutes quizzing Harry in person, asking him questions about what methods he had used to learn on his own up until this point, what texts he had used, which of the various rune languages he felt most comfortable with, and then asking him several basic questions. Finally, she set him to the task of actually taking the test.

It was about twenty minutes into the test that Harry felt a surge of emotion over the link from Tom and knew that Dumbledore had finally approached him.

Tom knew that Dumbledore was drawing near even several minutes before the aged wizard actually entered the library. He could feel the shifting of the castle's magic as the Headmaster traveled its halls. The magic probed at Tom subtly, most likely at Dumbledore' request. Any normal wizard would be completely ignorant of it but Tom was no normal wizard.

He took on a relaxed and bored pose in the chair he was perched in beside one of the many study desks. The book he had in his hands was a charms manual. A recently published one, actually, and one he hadn't read before. It wasn't anything groundbreaking but there were some mildly interesting spells in it.

His eyes remained trained on the book even as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the Light Lord silently entered the library. He continued to remain outwardly oblivious up until the man came to stand directly beside him. He glanced up, faking surprise then setting the book down beside him and slowly beginning to stand.

"Oh, no, that's quite all right. No need to stand on my account," Dumbledore said with a genial smile.

Tom blinked innocently at the man and relaxed back into his chair.

"Do you mind if I, perhaps, join you?" Dumbledore continued on smiling down at him.

Internally Tom was sneering in disgust, but not even the faintest trace of his true emotions made their way onto his face. He simply looked at the man with mild stunned surprise before stuttering out a response.

"Oh, of course. I mean, please do," he said kindly as he reached to the side and pushed out the chair that was beside him at the desk. He pushed his own chair away and angled it so that he would be facing the other man while Dumbledore pulled his chair out further and sat down.

"Ah, thank you, dear lad. When Minerva told me of your accompanying Mr. Potter I decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity and introduce myself. I am Albus Dumbledore. Headmaster of Hogwarts."

"Uh... yes, I know. I mean, I've heard all about you. Everyone knows you," Tom stuttered out convincingly.

"Ah, you flatter me. But it is actually you that I find myself most curious about right now."

"Me? I don't know why you would find me interesting at all," Tom said with innocent incredulity.

"Oh, I'm sure you're more interesting than you give yourself credit for. You have, after all, managed to catch the interest of young Harry."

'Harry' is it? Tom mentally sneered at Dumbledore's use of familiarity but, outwardly, remained impassive.

"Ah... I see," he said, instead.

"Do you?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm sorry, I've been rude. I haven't yet properly introduced myself."

"Ah, not rude at all. A simple mistake."

"Yes, well, my name is Nicodemus Tomaras," Tom said as he offered his hand.

Dumbledore easily took hold and the pair shook politely before parting again.

"I must confess, Mr. Tomaras, I was already aware of your name."

"You were?" Tom replied in entirely convincing surprise.

"Yes. Well, since Harry's interview with the Daily Prophet where he mentioned you by name, I have made a few inquiries about you."

"Oh? That's a bit surprising. I would have expected as much from the press, but I must admit I never imagined that the headmaster of Harry's school would find any value in digging into my past."

"Ah, well, Harry is a rather unique case, and I must admit that I think of him as more than just a student in my school. He has come to mean a great deal to me and I feel compelled to watch after him. There are those out there who would wish harm upon Harry, and I feel it is my responsibility to help keep him safe. I was only being cautious, of course, but it seemed important that I do my best to make sure Harry wasn't putting himself in harm's way by associating with the wrong sort."

Tom felt a twitch in his right eye and had to fight especially hard not to sneer or scowl at the manipulative old bastard before him. As it was, he still found himself frowning at the man.

"Well I hope your fears were assuaged. I pose no harm to Harry, I only wish the best for him."

"You wish for his best?"

"Of course. I care a great deal for him. More so than I've ever cared for anyone else in my entire life."

"I'm very glad to hear that, Mr. Tomaras because I hope we can come to a mutual agreement pertaining to Harry's safety. I understand that you and he feel that he is sufficiently protected in your home but I truly must insist that he spend the remainder of the summer in a place where I can guarantee his safety from those who would wish him harm. I ..."

"I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore, but I simply cannot abide by this line of conversation without Harry present. First, and foremost, neither you nor I have any right to dictate what Harry does with himself during his summer holidays. He is free to choose where he wishes to reside as long as he has the permission of his legal guardians, which he does. And, secondly, if anyone should be present to partake in such a discussion topic, it should be Harry himself. He would be very angry if he thought that people were gathering behind closed doors and secretly planning out his future without even asking for his input. If Harry wishes to go to whatever safe location you speak of, then he is free to do so, but it is his choice."

Dumbledore blinked in mild surprise before smoothing his expression. "While that may be so, it would seem that Harry values you, and your opinion, enough that he might be willing to see reason if you were to contribute your thoughts to the matter. I was hoping that you and I could come to an agreement..."

"I highly doubt that you and I will come to an agreement on this matter. I truly believe that Harry should stay where he feels safest and most comfortable. I know that you have written to him numerous times over the course of the summer requesting that he turn himself over to your protection and I also know that he has repeatedly refused said request. Harry has made his opinion on the matter quite clear and the fact that he has remained perfectly safe for the last month and a half does not seem to matter to you at all.”

"You continue to insist that his primary motivation for going where ever it is you want to send him is for his 'safety' and yet there is no evidence at the moment that could prove that where you would send him is actually in any way safer than where he has already been staying. You won't even tell him where it is you would like to send him off to nor have you given any concrete evidence to support that there is any actual threat to his safety right now. The argument that 'some Death Eaters might be out there and might be after you' simply isn't going to cut it here. There are only eleven days left until he will return to Hogwarts, I don't know why you would still continue to pursue this matter."

"I only seek to guarantee Harry's safety."

"And what makes you so sure that he is not safe in my home?"

"I know nothing about your home. If you would be willing to allow me to come pay your home a visit so I could inspect the wards, then perhaps my worries could be assuaged."

"I'm afraid that is out of the question. The fewer people who know of the location to my home, the more safe and secure it is for Harry. I want him to have a place he can return to, knowing that no one can get to him there. He needs that security. My home has become his sanctuary and I intend to keep it that way for him for as long as he wishes to make use of it."

"That is an entirely valid concern, however I am sure that Harry would not be averse to my knowing the location. I am quite capable of keeping a secret."

"He doesn't."

"Excuse me?"

"He doesn't wish for you to know. He and I already discussed this. He doesn't trust that you will not come in to try to force him to leave."

"He does not trust me?" Dumbledore responded with a hurt expression on his face. Tom internally scoffed, but kept his face surprisingly passive.

"You did leave him in the care of his horrible relatives without even once checking up on him to see how they were treating him, and since his reentry into the magical world you have continued to insist he return to them every summer despite being informed of exactly how horribly they treat him. Even this summer after he managed to escape them, you're first letter once again insisted he return to their home. He refuses to go back into an abusive environment where he doesn't feel safe. How can you expect him to trust you on this matter after all that you have done?"

Dumbledore flinched back slightly as if he had just been slapped.

"Let me be frank here, headmaster," Tom began, his voice harder but still seemingly polite, "with what I have seen, Harry could easily bring both the Dursleys and you up on legal charges for abuse and neglect of a minor. The Dursleys for their treatment of him and you as criminally negligent for having placed him with them in the first place, never checking up on him, then repeatedly ignoring Harry after he started attending school at Hogwarts when he came to you seeking help, informing you of his abusive treatment at their hands. But he refuses to take legal action. He still respects you, wishing to believe the best of your actions and choices, but at this point I think you have a long way to go in regaining his trust."

"I see..." Dumbledore said, looking slightly grave. "I only ever wanted the best for the boy. I honestly never believed that Petunia could possibly treat her own nephew in such a way, I..."

"Did you ever check? Did you ever even visit their home?"

"I corresponded with Petunia via letters. I..."

"People lie, Mr. Dumbledore. It is especially easy to lie in letters. You had a responsibility to Harry and you failed him. If you truly want to regain Harry's trust, I suggest you start with some honesty, which includes not trying to conduct matters that pertain to him, behind his back."

Dumbledore looked at Tom for a long quiet moment before he slowly nodded his head. His eyes had the obvious signs of regret and Tom wondered how much of it was actually for his egregious treatment of Harry, or regret that he had managed to lose some of the blind trust of his favorite pawn.

"Hmm... yes. You're probably right. You clearly care a great deal for Harry. I'm glad he has a friend like you by his side. I will wait and discuss this with Harry once he is done with his exams. Thank you for your time, I'll leave you to your reading."

Tom nodded his head in parting. "Good day to you, Headmaster."

"August 30th." Harry said with a finality in his tone that booked no debate.

"Excuse me?" Dumbledore replied, confused.

"The concern about my safety is about the possibility of someone coming after me, right?" Harry paused but didn't actually wait for a response. "They, whoever this 'they' might be, can't find me where I am right now so the only option these supposed people would have is to come after me at a point that they can predict. Namely, when I show up at King's Cross on the morning of September 1st."

Dumbledore blinked, seemingly a bit taken off his guard by Harry's sudden line of discussion coming out of nowhere.

Harry had finished his test with Professor Babbling and then McGonagall had gathered him and 'Nicodemus' and they had been making their way down the hallway towards the main entry hall when Dumbledore had approached them. Harry, it would seem, was not interested in wasting any time and had gotten straight to the point.

"That would seem like the most likely time, yes," Dumbledore conceded. "As for who 'they' might be, Harry, it is Voldemort himself and his Death Eaters."

Harry paused in his rant, surprised that Dumbledore was finally telling him this when he hadn't once mentioned Voldemort's return all summer long.

"Are you suggestion that Voldemort is actually back? Or just that you suspect that he might be trying to come back... again?"

Dumbledore took on a look, most grave. "I am most saddened to say this Harry, but I'm afraid he is in fact back. How he managed to do it, still alludes even me, but he has returned."

"But there's been nothing in the papers. No attacks. No sudden increase in Death Eater activity or anything. What makes you think he's back?" Harry said, taking on a disbelieving, but also horrified expression.

"I believe he is laying low and rebuilding his strength and his forces. I have personally seen him, Harry. I know it to be true."

Harry widened his eyes and took on a look of stunned disbelief.

"Seen him? When? What... what was he doing? Where'd you see him?"

Dumbledore paused and glanced for a moment at 'Nick'.

Harry frowned. "Whatever you tell me, I'm going to end up telling him anyway, so you'd may as well just say it in front of both of us."

Dumbledore sighed and nodded his head. "I was visiting the town where Lord Voldemort's muggle father and grandparents lived when they were still alive. I knew, from a source I have, that a small group of remaining Death Eaters had been called back together just before the end of the last school year and that Voldemort had managed to regain a body. From the reports I received, I knew that Voldemort was holding his meetings in a sizable manor house. I was aware that his muggle family owned such a house and recent investigations showed me that the house had mysteriously vanished. I went to investigate and it was during that time that I, quite accidentally, ran into him."

Harry blinked. "You... ran into him? What, like, you were just out for a stroll and there was Voldemort?" Harry asked, incredulously.

"Surprisingly enough, yes."

Harry gave Dumbledore a very skeptical look and then glanced over at 'Nick' who gave him an equally skeptical look in return before it shifted to mild amusement. Finally, Harry turned his attention back to Dumbledore and with a small shake of his head and a sigh he continued. "Oh—kay... Well, I haven't um... noticed anything on my end. I mean, there's been no pain in my scar, or weird dreams or anything. Nothing like first year when Quirrell was possessed."

"That's good to hear, Harry, but I'm afraid that it is irrefutable that he has returned. It is absolutely imperative that we guarantee your safety. It just so happens, that I know, from my source, that your entry into the tournament last year was, in fact, the work of Voldemort. How exactly he managed it, I'm afraid we may never know, although I suspect that Bartemus Crouch may have been under the Imperius curse, and was later killed, which would explain his disappearance and his assumed death. While we may not know exactly how he did it, the fact remains that he did."

Harry's eyes widened slightly. "Well... I suspected as much... but... well, nothing actually came of it. I mean, I obviously wasn't killed, and outside of the normal dangers of the tasks themselves, I was never even threatened."

"According to my source, the plans that your participation was a part of, were discarded part way through the year. After that, you're entry into the tournament became inconsequential to Voldemort's plans. My source was informed that Lord Voldemort has formed other plans involving you, however he has not been given any details as to the nature of those plans. As long as we are so in the dark, I simply cannot risk you being without adequate protection."

"Well, it's not really your risk to make, is it?" Harry snapped before managed to regain his composure and school his expression. He let out a slow breath and refocused on Dumbledore again. "Alright, so you want to have guards protecting me or something, right?"

"I would feel better if I knew you had some trained adult wizards nearby to help guarantee your safety." Dumbledore said, nodding his head.

"Okay, then on August 30th I'll go to this super-secret safe-house of yours and stay there until the morning of September 1st. Then I can travel with Hermione, the Weasleys and these 'trained adult wizards' of yours, to Kings Cross. Will that satisfy you?"

"Harry, I really would feel much better if you would agree to be relocated sooner than that. That is a week and a half away and while I understand that you feel you are safe at your current location, I would feel far more secure knowing you were..."

"But I wouldn't feel more secure." Harry said harshly, cutting him off. McGonagall looked at Harry with wide eyes and looked as if she were about to reprimand him.

"But what about buying your new school supplies and books?" Dumbledore asked. "If you were to join the Weasleys and Ms. Granger sooner, say perhaps, tomorrow, you could join them for their trip to Diagon Alley. I could have several highly skilled adults there to help guarantee your safety."

"I already purchased my school things."

"You did?"

"Yes, last week. Nick and I spent about an hour in Diagon Alley getting the few remaining things I needed, as I had owl ordered most of it just after my letter arrived with the books and supplies list."

"I did not realize you had been to the Alley recently. That was a very reckless thing to do, Harry."

"Well, obviously no one realized, did they? I refuse to allow my 'celebrity status', nor my potential enemies, make me a prisoner. When we went to Diagon Alley, Nick cast a notice-me-not charm on me and applied a simple glamor. No one even realized it was me. It was not a planned, scheduled, or predictable visit that anyone could have anticipated. No one knew we were going there, so no one could have planned some sort of attack. We took proper precautions. I'm not being reckless, I simply refuse to be cooped up all summer long, be somewhere that I do not feel safe, or someplace I simply don't want to be."

Dumbledore blinked at Harry while McGonagall actually looked mildly impressed, if not surprised that Harry had suddenly developed the nerve to stand up to Dumbledore when he had always been so submissive and awestruck in front of the man before.

"Now are you interested in my going to this safe-house of yours on the 30th or shall I just stay with Nick until September first?" Harry asked flatly.

Dumbledore frowned, clearly not liking the corner he was seemingly forced into. Tom had no doubt that the old man would like nothing more than to snatch Harry up and take him back to the Order's headquarters by force but knew that would not go over well. Especially not with 'Nick' present there to witness. Even McGonagall, with all her blind loyalty, wouldn't stand for Dumbledore basically abducting Harry against his will. Not to mention that it would be fundamentally counterproductive to Dumbledore's overall goal of regaining Harry's trust and loyalty.

Dumbledore heaved a heavy sigh and took on the look of someone greatly disappointed but resigned. "Alright, Harry. I suppose that will be acceptable."

"Good. Nick can side-along Apparate me to whatever location we want to use as a meeting place and then your people can take me to this safehouse from there. I was thinking we could meet up at the Leaky Cauldron, unless you have some other place in mind."

"The Cauldron should be suitable I suppose."

"Okay, the 30th is a Friday, and if we do this early enough in the morning the Leaky Cauldron shouldn't be too busy. Will 10 am work for you? It's after the breakfast crowd, but before the lunch rush."

"That should do."

"Alright," Harry said with a curt nod. "Sounds like a plan." Harry turned his attention to McGonagall. "Thank you, Professor, for arranging the tests for me. I really do appreciate it. I can already tell I'm going to enjoy Arithmancy and Runes a lot more than Divination and Care. I'm fairly sure I mentioned it, but I already got my approval from the Ministry for the time-turner. My representative said that it should be sent to you sometime in the next week and that you'd have it for me on the first."

"That's correct, Mr. Potter. You realize, of course, that you have to keep your use of it a secret."

"Of course."

"I'll have it ready for you when you arrive to school at the start of term."

"Thanks."

Harry turned back to Dumbledore. "Well sir, I suppose I really must be going. I don't want to be a bother. I'm sure you have more important things to look after so close to the start of the school year."

"Oh, it's quite alright, Harry. You're never a bother."

"Will I be seeing you on the 30th or will you be sending others in your stead?"

"I will likely have to send others. With the start of term being so close I have little time left in the summer and I unfortunately have some tasks I must attend to before then."

"I understand. Who should I be expecting?"

"You can expect Arthur Weasley and Remus Lupin among others."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. Well, good day Professor."

'Nick' nodded as well. "It was a pleasure meeting you."

"Ah, yes. A pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Tomaras." Finally Dumbledore began to head back down the hall the way he came from and McGonagall led Harry and Tom out of the castle and back down the path to the gates where Tom side-along Apparated Harry away.

Harry buried his face deeper into Tom's chest and grumbled irritably as he slowly attained consciousness and felt the sun beaming down on his bare back through their bedroom window.

He heard Tom sigh quietly and felt as the elder wizard shifted and stretched his hand up and began to gently card his fingers through Harry's unruly black mop.

"Don't wanna get up," Harry said in a muffled voice and Tom actually chuckled lightly before letting out another quiet sigh.

"I have often had to do things I did not wish to do. I still did it." Tom said simply.

"Remind me again why I have to do this?"

"Because we have plans and if you don't go back to school, it will ruin a great many of them. Plus I refuse to allow my lover to remain uneducated and I do not have the time to teach you everything myself."

Harry sighed and shifted so that his head was now just resting on Tom's shoulder and he could look up at his lover.

"Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."

"No, it doesn't. I'm not exactly ecstatic about it either, but we will endure. You will still be coming to visit me every day once the term starts, just like last year. With Rowle staying at the school full-time I still expect your weekly assistance with the training sessions, especially the lower levels. I refuse to deal with them alone. I would be more likely to spend the entire 'class' cursing them for their disgusting incompetence."

Harry snickered lightly before sighing again. "Yeah, but sleeping in the dorm every night is going to be down-right depressing. I've been spoiled all summer. I'm going to miss this." Harry ended wistfully as he brought his hand up and gently brushed his palm across Tom's exposed chest and then shifted his pelvis, grinding his morning wood into Tom's hip with a mischievous smirk on his face.

Tom made a hissing sound that sent shivers down Harry's spine. Tom always spoke in parseltongue during sex and Harry had slowly started to associate the hissing language with any number of erotic feelings and images. Sometimes all it took was a husky hiss and a flaring of Tom's deep Dark magic, and Harry would find himself desperately aroused. During a few of the training sessions, this had been rather inconvenient.

His endless attraction to Tom had not abated at all, but at least the powerful urges to come together had dimmed. The bond was basically complete now, and the two were left with a content, buzzing, connection, ever present in the backs of their minds, always reminding them of each others presence.

"I still have every intention of ravishing you as often as time permits," Tom said in a husky tone as he ducked his head down and stole a kiss, pulling Harry's bottom lip between his teeth for a moment and earning him a quiet moan.

Finally he pulled back and Harry sighed as he returned his head to Tom's shoulder. He hummed pleasantly and continued to lightly brush his fingers over Tom's chest and abdomen for another minute. "My sleep schedule is going to be so screwed up with all the time-turner use. But, I suppose, I'll manage. I did last year. Of course, last year I didn't have to manage Quidditch, and a couple of defense clubs, prefect duties, and training and Death Eater meetings here..." Harry groaned lightly as he was once again reminded of just how much stuff he had to do this year.

"I was thinking about that actually..."

"Hmm?" Harry hummed in question, angling his head and looking up into Tom's eyes, curiously.

"The student-issue time-turner from the school will only permit you to go back a total of six hours a day, correct?"

"Right."

"Mine, however, is a 24-hour time-turner."

"Right..." Harry said slowly.

"While I'm sure it would get a bit confusing at first, I was wondering how you would feel about living every day twice."

Harry furrowed his brow. "Live each day twice?" he echoed, curiously. "You mean, like I'd live the whole day, just at Hogwarts, then use your time-turner to go back to the start of the day and live the day again at the manor?"

"Correct."

"So I'd spend a night in my dorm and then go back and spend that same night at the manor with you, alternating back and forth."

"That was the idea."

Harry smirked. "Sounds like you completely win with this plan. You never have to sleep in an empty bed."

"Yes, that is most certainly a benefit I appreciate on my end. As for you, I would imagine that spending every other night here would still be preferable to spending no nights here at all," Tom pointed out. His tone sounded bored, but Harry knew that Tom really had been just as unhappy as he was with the idea of Harry leaving the manor for several months on end to go back to Hogwarts.

Harry leaned back, looking up at the cream-colored ceiling for a minute, thinking over the possibilities.

"The day where I have to spend the whole thing at Hogwarts would kind of suck but it would be worth it to have a whole day following it here. It would also mean that there would be no disruption in 'Evan's' attendance to the Death Eater meetings and the training sessions, so no one would get suspicious about that." Harry said, thoughtfully.

"A very valid benefit."

"How long have you been thinking of this? I mean... why wait till now to mention it?" Harry asked. He actually felt mildly annoyed. He'd been brooding the last week, knowing he was going to have to leave soon. Had he known that he could still be spending at least every-other-day with Tom, his looming departure to Hogwarts wouldn't have seemed quite so depressing.

"I was still debating," Tom said with a mild sniff.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"You would still have to make use of your student-issue time-turner to make it to your two conflicting classes during your day at Hogwarts, but that's certainly not a problem," Tom continued easily a moment later and Harry nodded his head.

"You know, doing it this way will probably be safer anyways. Instead of having to sneak out of the castle at random intervals, multiple times a day, I just do it once a day. Although doing it at the same time and place every day could become predictable and risk getting caught. Maybe I'll do it when I have to go out for my prefect rounds."

"You're a smart boy, Harry. I'm confident that you can do this without making any stupid mistakes."

Harry smirked back up at Tom and wrapped his hand around the elder wizard's torso, holding him tight for a minute. He sighed again and glanced at the clock on Tom's bedside table.

"Fuck," he muttered. It was ten till nine o'clock. They had decided to skip their morning workout and just sleep in that morning. Even with this new possible development of Harry doing a day-on and a day-off schedule, it didn't change the fact that for the next three days he would be stuck in the Order's headquarters and be unable to port-key back.

During the next few days while he was going to be trapped at the Order's headquarters, there would have been both a beginner training session, and an advanced training session at the manor. The advanced one would still progress as scheduled, even though both Evan and Thor would be gone. But Voldemort could easily deal with the advanced group on his own as they didn't need their hands held and were good at following the Dark Lord's orders. The beginners training session, however, had been canceled. Tom simply didn't have the patience to put up with their repeated failures and ignorance. They frustrated him with their ineptitude. Having Thor gone for the whole school year was going to make his tolerance for the beginner group strained to say the least. Thor was what made that class work since the man was accustomed to teaching idiots.

Everyone knew that Thor had been appointed as the DADA instructor at Hogwarts, so they were aware that he would not longer be around for the training sessions, but Evan's absence for the next three days had been explained away as the Dark Lord's apprentice being sent away on some mission.

Still, if 'Evan' had continued to be gone during the entire school year, it would begin to catch some people's notice. Harry's plan had been to just use the time-turner to sneak back as many evenings as he could manage, but that plan had been shaky and there were a lot of potential problems that could arise from it, especially once Thor's Defense clubs started up and Harry was busy with that... and Quidditch... and his OWL classes... and his prefect duties... Harry hadn't been looking forward to his workload this coming year.

Tom's new suggestion, however, really did solve a lot of those problems. And it would mean he had even more time to work on his school work.

Harry huffed out and shifted in the bed, rolling onto his back. "I suppose we should get up."

"That would probably be wise."

"Wise sucks."

Tom snorted mildly.

"The next few days are going to be awful, I just know it." Harry grumbled.

"Quite whining, you're being a brat." Tom scolded him.

Harry turned and scowled playfully at Tom, who simply rose a single contemptuous brow in response.

"At least I can contact you over the link if I need to. If I was completely cut off I'd feel suffocated." Harry said with a sigh.

"You'll be fine, love. It's just a few days and then you'll be at Hogwarts and we can begin moving forward on some of our plans."

Harry nodded his head, smiling at the fact that Tom was trying to make him feel better. "Oh, hey, if I do the 'every day twice' thing, I'll be able to help you with fixing up and relocating to the Abbey!"

"Do you really wish to call it that?"

"What? An Abbey? That's what it is."

"No, it's what it was, a very long time ago."

"Well I guess I could call it a castle. Maybe we should rename it. I mean, this is Riddle Manor, although no one besides us really knows that. I guess the Death Eaters just call it the Dark Lord's manor or the Dark Sect's headquarters. Anyway, the new castle is technically named Morhda Abbey, although I suppose Morhda Castle could work too."

Tom didn't respond and Harry went quiet again as he thought over things some more. "Whatever, we can figure out what to call it later. Anyway, you know, the more I think about it, the more I think it's probably the best idea if I do use your time-turner to live every day twice. If I do that, on the days that I'm here, I'll be able to go through the morning exercise routines like normal. I'll only be exercising every other day, but it's still better than having to basically stop all together which I would probably have to do otherwise."

"Yes, also true." Tom sighed again and shifted until he could sit up in bed, causing Harry to roll off him. "Come on, Love. Shower, then breakfast. We are short on time if we are going to get to the Cauldron in time."

Harry frowned and lay there for a minute while Tom climbed out of the bed, exposing his fully naked body to Harry's pleased, appraising eyes. Finally Harry gave in and rolled out of bed. His backside was quite sore from the previous night's activities and he sat on it tenderly before standing and following Tom into their bathroom wondering if they had time for any more 'activities' before he had to leave.

Kibby and Grader prepared breakfast that morning. Mixey was still at Morhda Abbey overseeing the two newly acquired elves who were working on fixing the place up. There was a lot of work to do, and even with the enthusiasm and seemingly endless energies that house elves displayed, it was too much for only two elves. Especially the gardens. It was becoming clear that if they intended to maintain the gardens, they might need to buy another elf or two just for that.

Tom and Harry's meal was mostly subdued as Harry was brooding again. He'd heard a number of vague stories from his 'friends' letters of the place he was going to be staying over the next few days and it was not looking forward to it one bit.

The two finally slipped into their normal morning conversation as Tom looked over the Daily Prophet. They discussed what some of the political news really meant and what tidbits about the pureblood families in the gossip columns were actually valuable.

At ten 'til, the pair went to the entrance hall. Grader popped in with Harry's trunk and Hedwig in her cage before bidding 'Young Master' farewell, bowing low and popping back out. Harry tapped his wand on the top of the trunk, activating the automatic shrinking charm, and slipped it into his pocket.

"I'll be Apparating us to the courtyard in the back of the Cauldron. Tom said as he slipped on his ring, activating the glamor that would disguise him as Nicodemus Tomaras while Harry removed his ring, conjured a long silver chain through it and hung it around his neck, tucking the ring under his shirt then fastening the top buttons up on his high-necked collar.

He was dressed in much the same style as he had been the day he visited Hogwarts for his tests. The robe he was wearing this time was, once again, snug to his upper torso and with crisp lines and a high neck. It was sleeveless again, for the warm summer months. It was a newer fashion, one that Tom had said would never fly in his day, but he liked it on Harry, and Harry found it comfortable and liked how it left his movement free. The robe hung down from his hips, hanging limply in heavy curtains down to his ankles. The robe was fastened from just below his chin down to his waist, then open in the front the rest of the way down, displaying his tight fitted black pants and shiny black shoes. He had his holly and phoenix feather wand in his disillusioned wrist holster while his cypress wand was packed away in his trunk.

Tom gave him a brief appraising look before reaching up and carding his fingers through Harry's hair. Again, Harry was wearing it wild, rather than slicking it back. That would be to dramatic a change for his 'friends' and schoolmates. Harry Potter did not willing put his scar on display.

Still, the dramatic increase in length would likely catch them all off guard anyway. Harry didn't care. He wouldn't cut it for the world. Tom liked it this way, and he found he really liked it too. It was also easier to manage when it was longer. He hadn't yet decided just how long he was going to let it get, but he thought that shoulder-length was probably as far as he'd go.

"Ready to go?" Tom asked and Harry turned to look at him with a reluctant smile.

Finally, Harry sighed and nodded his head. "I'm ready."

Tom held out his arm and Harry grasped his forearm with one hand while the other held onto Hedwig's cage. Harry felt the uncomfortable squeezing sensation, followed by the feeling of being pulled through a tube as Tom side-along Apparated him out of the manor.

They appeared with a soft crack in the empty courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron, and the seemingly innocuous blank brick wall that transformed into the archway into the alley when properly activated. Opposite the blank wall was the door that led back inside the wizarding pub and inn. Harry and Tom quickly slipped inside and glanced around, looking for the Order members that were supposed to take Harry to their secret headquarters for 'his protection.'

It only took them a moment to identify the group, currently gathered around a round table against one wall of the pub. Lupin noticed Harry's arrival first. A moment later the rest of them looked up as a group, and they quickly began to stand. Harry and Tom made their way towards the group, coming to a stop a few feet away as the last of the Order members stood up and gathered.

"Harry," Lupin said in a soft voice, as he looked Harry over with mildly surprised eyes. He blinked away his surprise and smiled softly. "It's good to see you. I'm glad you made it alright."

"Hello, Professor Lupin. It's been a while."

"None of this professor nonsense. I haven't been your teacher in over a year. Just call me Remus."

Harry nodded his head and gave a kind smile in return. "Alright, Remus. And hello Mr. Weasley," Harry said as the familiar red-headed man came to stand beside Lupin."

"Ah, hello Harry. It's so good to see you alive and well. I must say, your little disappearing act this summer gave us quite a fright."

"I'm sorry to have worried you all. I told Ron I'd be gone and I wrote to him, Ginny, and the Twins over the summer. I had hoped that would be enough to quell everyone's fears that I'd been kidnapped or something."

"Yes, yes. They did keep insisting you were fine. Still, we worried," Arthur Weasley said.

"Well, I am sorry for that. Um, oh yes. Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Nicodemus. Nick, this is Remus Lupin – he was friends with my father when they were younger, and he was my Defense professor in 3rd year. And this is Arthur Weasley the father of the friends I told you about, and... I... don't know the rest, I'm afraid."

"It's a pleasure to meet the two of you," Tom said with a convincingly kind smile.

Lupin shook Tom's hand, and then Mr. Weasley did the same. They then turned back to the rest of the group. "As for the rest of us," Lupin began, "This is Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt, both trained Aurors, and this is Emmaline Vance, Hestia Jones, and Dedalus Diggle."

Diggle stepped forward eagerly and shook Harry's hand while saying something about it being an 'honor'. Emmaline Vance then repeated his actions almost verbatim while Hestia Jones took on a more respectable attitude, but still shook his hand. Tonks greeted him with a grin and a little wave of her fingers while Kingsley just nodded his head. The group then greeted 'Nick'.

Harry blinked at the large group once introductions were finally finished. "All this just to get me to headquarters?"

"Well, you're safety is one of our highest priorities!" Diggle exclaimed, causing Harry to raise a single incredulous eyebrow at the man before schooling his expression.

"Er... that's... great. Um... Still seems a bit overkill just to side-along me where ever it is we're going to." Harry said, still taking in the large group. He glanced over at Tom, who looked almost amused at the ridiculous scene.

"Oh, we're not Apparating. We're flying." Vance said with an eager, expectant grin.

Harry blinked at her. "Flying? You mean, brooms?"

"Of course!" Diggle said.

"Why?" Harry asked, both stunned and bewildered.

"Well, it's not all that far..." Diggle trailed off before glancing hesitantly over at 'Nick', who was undoubtedly not supposed to know 'where' the headquarters was actually located.

"Well, sure, but even if it's next door, I don't see why you don't just Apparate me there. Flying on brooms could be followed. You can't track apparition, unless the person Apparating has already been tagged with a tracking charm. It just seems like it would be more secure if we just Apparated."

"We didn't know if you'd be very comfortable with being side-along Apparated." Remus explained softly. "We knew you're much more comfortable with broom travel, and thought we'd go with that."

Harry blinked at him. "Is that all? You do realize that Nick just side-along Apparated me here, right?"

"There are also anti-apparition wards on the house we'll be going to." Tonks added weakly with a shrug.

"Yeah, but we can always Apparate to just outside the wards and walk in, right?" Harry said in a tone that made it obvious he thought they were all being idiots.

They looked sheepishly between each other.

"I mean, if you really want to take brooms, then fine," Harry said, "I can dig mine out, it's shrunk down in my trunk, which is shrunk down and in my pocket right now but it just seems kind of silly to me."

"See, even the boy thinks it's a ridiculous plan. Can we just Apparate him now?" Kingsley asked, raising his brows impatiently at the others, who now looked even more sheepish and embarrassed. Harry rolled his eyes.

"I suppose it's probably for the best. We'll just go to the court yard and Apparate from there," Mr. Weasley said and the group gathered up their things,many of them had brooms leaning against their chairs. Harry assumed the rest had them shrunk down on their person somewhere, and they headed back out to the back courtyard.

Once there, Harry turned to 'Nick' and paused. The two just stared into each others eyes for a moment and Tom reached his hand up, brushing some of the long, wavy black strands out from Harry's face and tucked them behind his ear before leaning in and brushing his lips against Harry's.

Harry's arms came up and wrapped around Tom's neck, holding on tight and deepening the kiss with an air of desperation. Finally, he pulled away, but they ended up resting their foreheads against each other.

"I'm going to miss you," Harry said.

"I love you, Harry," Tom said, so easily, you would think he'd said it a thousand times already. Harry nearly gasped. His eyes widened and he pulled back, staring at Tom with utter shock on his face.

"I love you," Harry whispered before plunging back in, capturing Tom's lips with a fiery passion, and holding onto the elder wizard as if his life depended on it. One of Tom's hands buried its way into Harry's hair, while the other held him at the small of his back, pressing them together.

Harry wasn't sure how long they kissed, but the sound of someone clearing their throat reminded him that they had an audience and he reluctantly pulled away, panting lightly. Tom smirked down at him, but there was a softness to his eyes that wasn't often there.

Harry couldn't even remember the last time he felt so emotionally overwhelmed.

"You'd better write," Tom said with a teasing smile. Harry smirked back and nodded his head.

"Thank you, so much for inviting me for the summer," Harry said, truly meaning it. "This has been the best summer of my life."

"Thank you for coming." Tom replied with a smirk.

One more quick peck passed between them before the two released each other's holds and parted.

"Goodbye, Nick," Harry said, taking a few steps back and standing beside Lupin.

"Goodbye, love. You'll visit at Yule, yes?"

Harry smiled and nodded his head. "You bet."

"I'll come to Hogsmeade the weekend before Samhain."

"It's a date," Harry replied with a grin.

"Love you," Tom said, and again, the words came so easily, and it made Harry's knees feel weak, and the tiniest prickle of tears threaten at his eyes.

"Love you too," Harry whispered just as Lupin placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and felt his world get compressed before he felt like he was being sucked through a tube, away from Tom.
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Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness