The Black Prince

A/N: On Lorelei: the Lorelei were sirens who lured boatmen to death and destruction. Usually you hear about them in German myths, but if I recall they also appear in various forms in quite a few other cultures. Not chosen as a Gilmore Girls reference. Sorry for the confusion. I thought more people would be familiar with them.



Flashback marked by XX since my italics don’t work on this site.



Parseltongue marked by XXX…not the best system, I know, but everything I try ends up not working on this site. Sorry.



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Chapter 19



Voldemort and Lucius sat in the Dark Lord’s private chambers, sipping whiskey and waiting for the arrival of the Black Prince and Severus.



"Was the Prince able to make all of the necessary purchases today to effect his disguise?" Voldemort asked, impatient for more news about the status of this operation.



"Yes. From the report that Draco gave me, everything seemed to go well. They toured Diagon Alley together, making it quite clear to everyone that Draco was showing some tourists around the city. The Prince and Ginevra bought all that they should need to begin their new positions in Hogsmeade and their names were spread around as Americans who recently moved to the area."



"Good. He ordered you and Severus to join him there, did he not?"



"Yes, my Lord. We met the group for lunch…" his words faded away uncomfortably as he contemplated whether it was prudent to ask Voldemort the question that had been plaguing him since their meal together. Lord Voldemort tended to ‘gossip’ more with him than with his other followers, but all the same he would not likely react well to impertinent questions regarding his co-ruler’s sexual preferences.



"And?" Voldemort prompted, curious to know what had made Lucius so uncomfortable.



"Forgive me if I am impertinent, my Lord, but our lunch was…peculiar."



"How so?"



Lucius was quiet for a moment. "It appears that the Prince and Severus have an unusual relationship," he finally said cautiously.



"I see. Yes, Dorian and Severus do have a slightly unusual relationship. The power balances in their bedroom and outside of it are quite complex."



"So you know?" Lucius asked hesitantly. He was still waiting to be hexed for asking about this. He was rather close with Voldemort and the two had gossiped about the Prince and his sex life before, but this was a different situation and the implications were also quite different.



"Yes. The Prince saw fit to reveal some of their relationship to me a few weeks ago."



"I see." Lucius took a long sip of his drink.



"You had thought that the Prince was forcing your friend into some sort of sexual servitude, didn’t you?" Voldemort said, his amusement evident.



Lucius blushed lightly. "It had appeared to be so."



Voldemort laughed quietly, a sibilant hiss. "Their private life is theirs to keep private or reveal. I can only assume that you saw through the façade that they portray to the Death Eaters because they decided that you should. Not even I saw through it until Dorian chose to allow me to."



Lucius looked relieved. He had been worried about maintaining the impression that he had no clue about their relationship. He certainly didn’t want to be punished for his inopportune knowledge.



"What did they do which revealed it to you?"



Lucius thought back to their lunch, and started retelling the story to his Lord.



XX A waiter stepped into the area that they had erected silencing charms around, bringing their conversation to a halt as he handed out menus.



Severus promptly took the menu from Dorian’s hands and gave it back to the waiter. On second thought, he grabbed Ginevra’s from her as well, to better mask his actions. "I will order for our friends," he said to the waiter, glaring him away from the table.



Lucius and Draco stared at Severus in horror, quite certain that he was about to die a painful death for daring to take away their Prince’s menu. From what they had seen, the Prince did not react well to those who usurped his authority on any matter, regardless of how small it might be.



It took them a few minutes to realize that not only was Dorian completely unfazed but that he was still chatting happily with his servant.



Ginevra grabbed Draco’s menu from his lax hands. "Stop staring," she said quietly as she perused the menu quickly, trying to decide what she wanted. She hadn’t had much Greek cuisine but she was at least familiar with zucchini pie. "Kolokothopita," she said quickly to Severus before shoving the menu back into Draco’s hands.



He nearly dropped it, still completely in shock.



Lucius shook himself back to the present, just in time to place his own order when the waiter returned. Draco scrambled for a moment to come up with something to order but managed to do so without embarrassing himself too much. Severus smoothly ordered for himself, his sub and Ginevra.



"So, you think to open a shop in Hogsmeade?" Severus asked, quite glad for his disguise. He had taken a polyjuice potion and then layered it with numerous glamours. He was completely unrecognizable. It had been incredibly rare that he had been able to take Dorian out on anything even remotely resembling a dinner date and he was relishing the freedom his disguise bought him to do so.



"Yes. My sister and I have been saving for a year or so and we decided to move over here. Draco’s offered to help us out with setting up the shop. We might even talk him into working with us some," he said, smirking at Draco.



"Have you rented premises yet?" Lucius asked.



"Yes. While we were still in New York, Lorelei wrote Gringott’s Bank and received a detailed listing of the stores available for rent in the area. We’ve not seen it yet but it sounds perfect."



"Where is it located?"



"On the main street, if I understand correctly," Ginevra explained. "It is about two thirds of the way down, near an Italian restaurant and an apothecary. I believe there is a bookshop across from us. It’s a small store but seems plenty big for us."



"I know just the one. A jewelry store used to let that building, if I recall," Lucius said.



"They closed this last year," Draco explained to his father.



The waiter returned with their food. After he left, Dorian looked down at his plate.



"What is this?"



"Psari tis Skaras," Severus answered. "Grilled fish." He handed Dorian a slice of the hot bread that came out with the meal.



They all waited for Dorian to take a small bite of his bread before eating. As much as they knew they were supposed to treat him like a normal teen and not their Prince, they still felt awkward doing so, and eating before him was something that none of them were brave enough to do.



Dorian smiled happily after his first bite of the fish. "Wonderful," he commented.



Severus nodded his satisfaction but did not comment. He had never doubted for a moment that his sub would love what he ordered for him. Like any good Dom, he knew the food that his sub both liked and needed.



"Have you never eaten Greek food before, Dorian?" Lucius asked kindly.



"I have had it quite often."



"Oh." Lucius didn’t quite know what to say. XX



Voldemort laughed again. "It appears that you have seen Severus order for his boys before?"



"Yes. The implications were not lost on me. Added with some of the other things I had witnessed…"



"I assume that young Draco did not pick up on anything?"



"No sir." Lucius found himself grateful that his son was so clueless about anything remotely resembling alternative lifestyles. He really didn’t want to have to deal with his son’s shock over the situation, much the way that he was likely to misunderstand the relationship. A few more untimely words from Draco and he would find himself without a son. The Dark Lord and the Prince had both calmed their tempers some, but they could only be stretched so far.



The doors were opened and the Black Prince entered, closely followed by Severus.



"Good evening, Lord," the Prince said, sinking to a low footstool.



Severus looked at him closely for a moment before sitting in the armchair next to the footstool.



"I hear that your mission went well today, Dorian," Voldemort said as Lucius filled some glasses of whiskey for his Prince and Severus.



"Very. The rumors should have spread quite well by now, and I have no doubt that by the time school is back in session that the majority of the students will know about my sister and I and will venture into the shop to get a look at us. It will be up to us to keep them there long enough to begin our work."



"When do you intend to move out there, sir?" Lucius asked hesitantly.



"In another few weeks. I want to be there around two weeks before classes resume."



"And our other initiatives?" Voldemort asked.



Dorian immediately switched into parseltongue. They both preferred to keep their most important work a secret until they were ready to reveal it, even if it was only to Severus and Lucius.



XXX"Research on the Veil proceeds well. They have as yet had no major breakthrough in finding my Father but I still hold hope. They truly are a brilliant group of scholars. You have assembled the best and the brightest of the magical world within this manor."XXX



XXX "Of course. Do they require anything else for their studies?"XXX



XXX "No, they have not yet given me any proposals for additional supplies or people. I will go to visit them tomorrow morning to oversee their work."XXX



XXX "Very well. Please keep me updated." XXX



XXX "How have the healers done under Ava’s watch at St. Mungos?"XXX



XXX "Surprisingly well. It appears that the time was ripe for converting the other healers there. Ava reports that few witches and wizards remain firmly on the side of the light. The vast majority are willing to openly side with us or else openly support us, although they do not wish to take the marks." XXX



Dorian hissed in pleasure. XXX "Perfect. We must continue our work to convert those who lead our society. We will need them after the revolution."XXX



XXX "Yes, we will. Were you able to ascertain anything regarding the general opinion of the war while you were in Diagon Alley?" XXX



XXX "The masses appear to grow restless. They are demanding for information on the whereabouts of Harry Potter. Dumbledore is getting desperate."XXX



Voldemort looked at Severus for a moment before responding in parseltongue. XXX "And Severus has reported this to you? I was under the impression that he would not be returning to Dumbledore until the start of school."XXX



XXX "He has not. I have a spy within the Order’s Headquarters." XXX At Voldemort’s raised eyebrow he elaborated. XXX"Madam Black’s portrait hangs there still. She loathes the lot of them, and she reports to me every few days about the events within the house. She cannot hear everything since she cannot travel from her portrait to the others in the house, but she hears enough in the hallway and from conversations in front of her."XXX



XXX "I assume that they are unaware that Madame Black has more than one portrait and can move between them?"XXX



XXX "Of course. My Father gave me a small portrait of her shortly before he died. She visits as often as she can do so, safely."XXX



XXX "I see. Perhaps we can try to force his hand. We revealed to the Ministry that Harry Potter was missing but they are as yet unsure what that necessarily means. We have a few decisions that must be made soon."XXX



XXX "I know,"XXX Dorian hissed wearily. XXX "I have not yet made up my mind on what to do. If we reveal that we have taken Potter and are holding him ransom then we will look like the evil ones. If we reveal that we have killed him, we once again look bad, not to mention that people may move to our side simply to save themselves, not out of any true belief. Feigned belief is too uncertain for us to depend on, and I fear that if our power grew in that manner that it would leave us just as suddenly."XXX



XXX"Yes, we would open ourselves up to potential betrayal if we gained our soldiers in that manner. Have you thought about implying that Harry Potter has run away on his own? That he found out about Dumbledore’s manipulations and simply ran? We can leave it vague enough that everyone hears the implication that Potter ran to the Death Eaters to beg their protection but we will not say so outright." XXX



XXX "I see. We imply that Potter sought us out for protection against the light and that he is now in our safekeeping, although we will neither confirm nor deny that he resides with us. He would be an ally rather than a prisoner."XXX



XXX "I understand that there would still be some problems, but it might work. People would see us as a sort of sanctuary rather than as terrorists who kidnapped and tortured their savior."XXX



XXX "And Dumbledore would look even worse,"XXX Dorian hissed happily. "Let us give this some more thought," he said in English, startling the other two men out of their haze.



"Lucius, how go the plans for our celebration?" Voldemort asked.



"Very well, my Lord. The ballroom has been expanded and all of your followers will be present."



"Excellent," Dorian said, his words still somewhat sibilant from his use of parseltongue. "They have done well over the past few months and have cause to celebrate."



"They will do even better in future or this will be the last celebration they face," Voldemort said firmly. "We cannot allow them to become lax now that we are so close to victory."



"Of course not, Lord," Dorian agreed easily. "Nonetheless, they do have much to celebrate. Our union has in effect changed the entire course of the war. Their chances for survival have greatly increased."



"There will be some there that you have not seen since you marked them," Lucius reminded him.



"I am aware of that," Dorian said, his voice growing sharp. "They will behave appropriately or they will no longer serve in our ranks. We have no room for those who cannot take orders from their leaders."



Severus and Lucius nodded their agreement quickly but retained their earlier fears. Only a select few had witnessed the Black Prince’s ruthlessness when dealing with the enemy, and even fewer had seen his cruelty when dealing with his own followers who misbehaved.



The common soldiers would have no reason to think that they needed to act with even greater decorum around their new leader than they had done with Lord Voldemort. Someone was sure to misbehave and that someone was sure to die painfully as payment.



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A/N2: Things pick up again in the next chapter. Surprising changes happen with Dorian’s incubus heritage.