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The Guile and Devotion of a Black Heir	By : StarLightMassacre Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 104291 -:- Recommendations : 9 -:- Currently Reading : 26
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Harry Potter; all rights go to J. K. Rowling. I make no money for this piece of fictional writing and never will.

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
Last Time

He would have a beautiful, kind, supportive husband, and he would have a child. The thought was almost enough to bring tears to his eyes. He had a future, when he had fully believed before meeting Harry that his life had ended at nineteen, when he had been sentenced to life in Azkaban. Not even his escape from the prison had given him his life back, he had been a husk, a jerky, dribbling cripple who had needed others, mostly Rodolphus, to help him bathe and sleep. It had only been Harry coming into his life that had given him his life back, had given him a purpose, a reason to pull himself together and sort himself out…for Harry, who had given him back a future, and would give him a family of his own.

Chapter Twenty-Four – Classified Meetings

Harry was incredibly happy as his seventeenth birthday approached, as it meant that he was getting closer to his first ever holiday, and it was going to be with Rabastan, which made it all the better, but what made it perfect was that they were going alone, they wouldn’t have a chaperone with them. Of course they were being trusted to stick to their contract, and have no sexual contact or make any babies, but Harry was sure he could find some way around that little clause. The former clause, not the latter, he didn’t want any babies just yet.
Though one of the best things to happen recently was that he had gone for another appointment at St Mungos and he had been given a clean bill of health, which took a huge weight from his shoulders to know that he was now completely healthy. He was no longer taking any potions, not a single one, so he didn’t have any of the awful side effects to deal with anymore. He was elated because of it and he had celebrated with a small, spur of the moment party with just his family. He officially no longer had hypocalcaemia. He would have to keep up drinking and eating calcium rich things, such as milk, yoghurt, cheese and certain vegetables, particularly leafy greens. He would need a few follow up check-ups, just to make sure that his calcium levels didn’t drop now that he was off the calcium potions, but he was healthy, his bones were as strong as they should be, he was where he needed to be, of course he had been told that he could still stand to gain more weight, but that was a slow progress thing and if he carried on how he was going, then he would be just fine, and it felt absolutely wonderful.
He was officially learning how to Apparate at the Ministry, and he always had Rabastan and Rodolphus to help him while at home too. Draco had taken his test, and he had passed and now had his Apparating license. He was always willing to help Harry too, with some of the theory aspects of Apparation that long time Apparators forgot about, as they had been Apparating for so long that it just came as second nature to them without needing to think of it, so that made Draco invaluable to Harry learning the theory of Apparation that he would need to know and show to his examiner and would actually help him get his own license.
Other than that, and a bit more stressful, frustration inducting wedding planning with Narcissa in which very little actually got done, Harry had had unlimited free time with Rabastan and now that they were into July, things were progressing nicely and though he complained that time was going much too quickly, because he wanted to spend all his time with Rabastan and not have to go back to Hogwarts, he truly was enjoying himself immensely.
This carried on in the same way until out of nowhere, on the fifteenth of July, he received an owl from Dumbledore, asking him to please join him at Grimmauld Place as soon as he could.

“Who is that from?” Rabastan asked him, a hint of something dark and dangerous in his voice.

Harry gave him the look that that comment deserved and pointedly went back to reading the letter, or rereading it, as he had already read it once.

“I apologise for my tone of voice.” Rabastan said, this time more neutral in his tone, and less accusational. “It is just that I don’t recognise the owl and I was wondering who it was from.”

Harry gave Rabastan another look, considering his words and comparing them to his expression.

“It’s from Dumbledore.” Harry said blandly. Then he sighed unhappily. “I need to go and deal with this, I am going to have to leave you for a few hours.”

“He wants to meet you during the summer months? What could he possibly want with you?” Lucius asked.

Harry snorted. “Need I remind you that it was you who pushed me to prove my loyalty to him by meeting up with him in the first place? I can’t just ignore him during the summer or he’s going to become suspicious.” He said, folding up the letter with another sigh and stuffing it in his pocket. “I need to sort this out. I shouldn’t be too long.”

“Are you going on another jaunt?” Lucius asked him seriously.

“No, we’re going to talk about the last jaunt, I believe, now that he’s recovered somewhat from the ordeal.” Harry said, finishing off his cup of tea. “I will take my pendant just in case.”

“I wish that you would wear it all the time.” Lucius sighed.

“There’s no need.” Harry said. “I only need it when I want quick access to a Portkey.”

The adults all looked at one another covertly. If only Harry knew that the pendant wasn’t just a Portkey.

“It’s more than just a Portkey, Harry.” Draco put in and Lucius’ heartrate spiked, wondering how his temperamental son was going to handle that news. Of course he should have known that Draco, with his love for gossip, wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut.

Harry, the bright boy that he was, took a moment to mull that over, and then his eyes narrowed.

“That’s how you knew I was outside of the school and in danger. What else is in that thing?” He demanded.

“Only a few spells to help keep you safe. All Pureblooded children wear one.” Lucius tried to pacify.

“I’m not Pureblooded. I’m a Halfblood.” Harry bit out. “Why didn’t you tell me it was more than just a Portkey?!”

“Because I was worried that if I did then you wouldn’t wear it at all.” Lucius said calmly, ignoring Harry’s jibe about being a Halfblood. He was technically a Halfblood, everyone knew that, but he actually wasn’t just a Halfblood as he had been, thankfully, legitimised shortly after his birth, so saying otherwise was just splitting hairs.

“What else is on it?!” Harry demanded.

“Simple monitoring charms to alert me when you, or Draco, are in danger and a locator charm so that I might find you if you are in danger.”

“So you can track my locations with it?”

“Believe it or not, but we trust you both to some extent and we do not constantly monitor either of you. True, during Draco’s first year, particularly in the early months, we did check up on him a little more often than strictly necessary, but it was the very first time that he’d ever been away from our sides for more than a few hours. Now that he, and you, are older we wait for the charms to alert us to something being wrong before we use the pendants to check up on you. It does not stream information to us twenty-four hours a day, we are not interested in where you go or what you are up to unless it endangers your life. It is merely for you to have an escape route if needed, or if you are unable to use the Portkey, it will alert me that you are in danger and it will tell me where you are so that I might come and get you if you are unable to get yourself out. It is for your protection, for our peace of mind, Harry, it is not meant to shackle you or take away any privacy or independence, it is to keep you safe.”

“Why couldn’t you just tell me that from the beginning?” Harry asked. “Instead of lying to me and telling me that it was just a Portkey?”

“As I said, I was worried that if I told you then you wouldn’t wear it at all.”

“You should have had more trust in me than that.” Harry said. “If you’d actually explained what it really was then I would have worn it permanently. I understand its use and purpose now. Before, I thought it was just an emergency Portkey, so why would I need to wear it all the time, especially when at school? You need to trust me and you need to be upfront with me about these sorts of things because I hate being lied to! That is the main reason Dumbledore and I fell out, because he kept things from me, because he lied to me and tried to explain it away as being for my own good, and I hated him for it! I am learning to trust you all, but how do you expect me to do that when you’re lying to my face and keeping me in the dark about everything?! The lies will always come out, one way or another, and just like with Dumbledore, after every one that is exposed, I lose some trust in you. If you can lie to me about one thing, what else are you lying about? If you can keep me in the dark about something as small as this, what else are you hiding from me? Those doubts build, the distrust causes a rift and if it goes too far the trust will be gone and I will cut you from my life, just as I did to Dumbledore and those who I once called friends. I won’t stand for it.”

Harry stood and he turned to Rabastan and gave him a quick, chaste kiss, more to prove that this argument had nothing to do with him, before he stormed out. He went up to his bedroom and took out the pendant that had caused this new strife and he sucked it up, slipping it over his head and tucking it in his tee-shirt.

“Kreacher!” He called out.

“Yes, Master, what can Kreacher be doing for his Master?” The house elf asked, a lot more amicably than usual. He’d changed (for the better) ever since Harry had given him the ancient Black heirloom that was hanging proudly around his neck.

“Can you take me to Grimmauld Place, please Kreacher?” He asked politely, before his mind flashed up a warning and he quickly added more instructions. “And if anyone there asks you about the sword, or who took it, or who ordered it to be taken, you lie, do you understand? Even if I ask you about it directly, you do not mention it in hearing of other people, only ever when we’re alone. You say that you know nothing about the sword going missing, you don’t know who took it, I never ordered it from you, and you don’t follow anyone’s orders but mine, okay? Oh, and say nothing about me ordering you to spy on the Order of the Phoenix either, lie about that too.”

Kreacher mumbled for a moment and then he looked up. “Yes, Master. I understand.”

“Well done, Kreacher. Now, let’s go.”

Harry held out his hand and Kreacher took it. A moment later they were in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place that was brimming with activity that stopped the moment he arrived. He kept his temper by the skin of his teeth when he noticed that the Weasleys were here once again for the summer. Judging from the level of chaos and mess, and all of that just in the kitchen, they must have arrived only that morning.

“Ah, Harry, there you are.” Dumbledore replied jovially from the brand new kitchen table.

“Apologies if I am late. I was just finishing breakfast.” He said tonelessly.

“No matter, no matter. I do like what you’ve done with the place.”

“I can’t take the credit for that. Remus has been decorating for me while I was at school, but truly Sirius should have thought of this before. The house is barely recognisable with a few coats of paint and new furniture.”

“Yes, Remus did make mention that you were redecorating for your bride-to-be, Aceline, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Harry replied.

“Do you have a photo of her, perhaps?”

“Not on me, no.” Harry replied, making a show of checking his pockets, just in case. “I didn’t think to pick one up and, believe it or not, but I don’t need to carry a photo of her on my person at all times. Is this why I’ve been called from home?”

“Ah, no, forgive me. Come, I wish to speak to you alone.”

Harry nodded and he turned back to Kreacher. “You are dismissed, Kreacher. You may go back to what you were doing.”

“He is getting in the way of the cleaning.” Mrs Weasley told him.

“As the cleaning is his job, I would leave it down to him.” Harry pointed out civilly.

“Some of the guest bedrooms are filthy still.”

“The guest bedrooms are the least of my priorities. The main rooms are the biggest priority for me and are first on the list and they are coming on very nicely. The guest bedrooms will wait.”

“The members of the Order need places to sleep, Harry dear, that has to be a priority, and all of the upper floor bedrooms have been locked by Kreacher and…”

“As this is my house, I say what is the higher priority and people squatting in my house deserve to sleep in the filth. I told Kreacher to keep people from entering certain rooms as I don’t want people rummaging in things, especially not Sirius’ bedroom! If you want to stay here, then fine, but you’ll sleep where I tell you to sleep and you will stay out of rooms that I don’t want you in!”

“The attic has also been locked.” Dumbledore said mildly.

“So? Why would you possibly want to go in that dusty, decrepit attic? Kreacher is cleaning it currently and I don’t want anyone getting in his way. I’m turning it into a Potions workshop for Aceline.”

“I thought she was a Healer, not a Potions Mistress?” Hermione pointed out.

Harry turned his head to look at her, as if just realising that she was there.

“She’s not either as she is still in school, but if you were as clever as you would have everyone believe, you would remember that aspiring Healers need an ‘O’ in Potions, because they have to recognise poisons, botched potions and potions that have been tampered with, and know how to remedy them all, in order to actually treat people. Healers make and use potions in their line of work, Hermione. Aceline could easily become a Potions Mistress once she graduates if she wanted to, but she doesn’t as she wants to help and heal people, but as Healing and Potions go hand in hand, I am having a Potions workshop built here for her, so she can test and brew her own medicines to do what she loves to do, which is helping sick and injured people.”

“Could I question Kreacher about…?”

“No, you cannot question my house elf about anything! How dare you even suggest as such.” Harry snapped at Dumbledore, tuning back to glare at him.

“I was only worried that perhaps he might still be in league with Bellatrix Lestrange, it would be quite easy for him to be passing on information about the Order meetings to her once more.” Dumbledore pointed out. “It was Kreacher who tricked you into believing the lie that led to Sirius’ death and it was Kreacher who told Bellatrix how to get to you, through Sirius, which was the formation of the vision that was sent to you.”

“Do not even dare try to blame Kreacher for that. He did as he was told, as all good house elves do. He hated Sirius, and Sirius hated him. I can understand why Kreacher wanted Sirius gone, but it was not him who killed Sirius, it was Bellatrix and the blame for it goes solely on her for casting the spell that killed him!”

“Even so, he might still be in contact with her, so it seems prudent to…”

“He is not in contact with her because I forbade it when I first got ownership of him! I ordered him not to contact her, not to go to her, not to follow any of her orders. He hasn’t been near her and nor will he, because he has to listen to me!”

“He might have found a way around your orders, if he was so inclined.”

“He isn’t.” Harry bit out.

“He is wearing an old Black family heirloom…”

“That I gave to him as a reward for his loyalty.” Harry said with his eyes narrowed.

“It belonged to Cygnus Black, Bellatrix’s Father…”

“It was Phineas Nigellus Black’s, given to him when he became Hogwarts Headmaster by an Uncle. Whomever it was passed down to afterwards is none of my concern and Cygnus Black was also my Mother’s Father, and Andromeda’s Father, before you point out just that bitch of a woman, which makes him my technical Grandfather.”

“You are not blood related to any of them.” Hermione pointed out.

“I was adopted, Hermione. Blood or not they’re my legal family! Now what is this all about before I leave and ban you all from staying in my fucking house?!”

“Harry, you know that we use this house as a safe haven for the Order.” Dumbledore said softly.

“I’m getting to the point where I don’t even care! I don’t like being coerced, cornered or set upon with all this bullshit, now why am I even here?”

“I wished to speak to you about certain things.”

“Then hurry up and get to the point! I have things to do, I’m rather busy, despite it being the summer.”

“Dear, you’re not well. You shouldn’t be taking on so much.” Mrs Weasley told him. Harry was upset to see her in such a poor state, she was very thin and haggard looking, though she still had a smile for him, she was still concerned about his health, which made him feel the deepest of sympathy and something almost akin to grief, but he hardened himself against such feelings. Whatever happened to her was not his fault.

“Actually I got the all clear last week. I’m perfectly healthy once more. I’m also doing my training for my Apparation license and I’m planning a holiday for me and Aceline during August too. Then there are my Wizengamot duties too, and the Ministry party to prepare for. I don’t have the luxury of time, so if you please, why am I here?”

“Please, come to the dining room, Harry.” Dumbledore insisted and Harry sighed and followed.

This was his house, however, so he sat at the head of the table without being asked and he indicated that Dumbledore should sit in the chair beside him.

“There are certain things that need to be shared with you now, Harry.” Dumbledore started.

“Then by all means, share them. It would be a first.” He quipped.

Dumbledore sighed heavily. “I have handled things badly in relation to you, I see that now. For that I can only apologise. I believed it best to keep you innocent, to treat you as the child that I thought that you were…”

“I have never been either of those things!” Harry hissed. “Thanks to those abusive monsters that you left me with I was never a child and because of their appalling treatment of me I was never innocent. You treating me like a child only ever endangered me more, which is why I can’t stand to be near you for extended periods of time! So stop waffling and get on with it, I’m growing impatient.”

“I can see that our little adventure hasn’t had any effect on our relationship…”

“I almost died.” Harry said through clenched teeth. “I was unwell to begin with and that little jaunt almost killed me and we got nothing out of it! Did you truly expect my stance to change because of that? It wasn’t even a real fucking Horcrux. I almost died for absolutely nothing. Fair enough if I had risked myself to destroy that monster once and for all, but it was for nothing!”

“As I said before, we know now that we have an ally in the…”

“Oh.” Harry interrupted loudly. “Have you found out who it is then?” He asked sarcastically. “Do we know who is helping us, how many Horcruxes they’ve destroyed or merely moved? You should introduce us so that we all know we’re on the same team.”

Dumbledore sighed again, looking weary and tired, putting his head into his hand.

“Anyone who is moving these Horcruxes is no friend of ours.” Harry said firmly. “They are not an ally, they’re interfering and getting in our way! They’re making everything a million times more difficult for us and we are never going to find these blasted Horcruxes if this idiot keeps fucking moving them!”

“We must not lose hope, Harry.”

“It’s too late for that.” Harry snorted. “I already thought it was an impossible mission before I found out that there was someone getting in the way, now it’s even more so.”

“So you wish to give up?” Dumbledore asked him, inflecting his tone with disappointment. “You want to roll over and allow Voldemort to win.”

“He’s going to win anyway if we can’t find whoever this person is, from the seven billion people in the world.”

“I believe whomever it is, they are either a current or former Death Eater, from the wording in the message that they left in the locket.”

“Oh great, let’s just go around asking all the Death Eaters if they know about the Horcruxes and if they might be trying to destroy them. I’ll take from A to M and you can have N to Z and we’ll question them all to see who might be our secret ally.” He rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

“You are not being helpful, Harry.”

“Helpful?!” He demanded. “How can I possibly be helpful in this situation? Oh, yes, we’ll absolutely find this prick who took the real locket and they’ll tell us where all the others are and we’ll have Voldemort dead by the end of the year. And then I’ll grow in pink, fluffy wings and fly off into the bloody sunset and live happily ever after over the rainbow.”

“Harry, you need to listen to me, because I believe that you yourself are a Horcrux.”

Harry’s heart seized in his chest and he suddenly had trouble breathing…he gawped at Dumbledore, feeling like his brain had frozen.

“What?” He whispered, his throat tight and his voice a strangled croak.

“I believe you to be a Horcrux.” Dumbledore repeated, watching him and his reaction closely.

“Is this a joke? Some sort of test?” He pleaded.

“I’m afraid not.”

“How do you know?!” Harry demanded, finding his voice.

“I had my suspicions in your first year. When you told me that your scar would prickle now and then.”

“You knew as far back as then and you…”

“I didn’t know for certain until your fifth year.” Dumbledore interrupted. “When I had Severus look for a connection between you and Voldemort under the guise of Occlumency…”

Harry sucked in a huge breath and a wave of icy anger washed over him. “Under the guise of Occlumency…those lessons weren’t even real?!” He demanded furiously.

“I needed a reason to check on my fears, an excuse to look for the Horcrux that I believed was there.”

“I went through hell with Snape in those lessons! I blamed myself for not learning Occlumency fast enough for Sirius’ death, and all along they weren’t even real lessons!” He raged.

“This was much more important, Harry. It is doubtful that you would have ever learnt Occlumency, which is an incredibly difficult branch of magic, regardless of…”

“Nothing was more important to me than Sirius!” Harry screamed. “If I’d only been given the chance I could have learnt it, but we’ll never know now and because of that, Sirius is dead! Because you had Snape digging in my head for a Horcrux instead of helping me to protect my memories from Voldemort! Did he know about the Horcrux too?” He demanded after a heavy pause to collect his racing thoughts into some sort of order. “Have you both been laughing about this behind my back?”

“Occlumency would not have worked with a Horcrux inside of you.” Dumbledore said simply. “You have a piece of Voldemort’s soul inside of you, that creates a connection that cannot be broken or blocked. He would have still sent that vision to you regardless of whether you were the greatest Occlumens in the world or not.”

Harry tried to absorb that, breathing heavily, being battered by his tumultuous emotions at hearing that with a Horcrux inside him he hadn’t even stood a chance to stop that vision from coming through.

“Did Snape know about it?” He demanded furiously, unwilling to let that little bit of information slide. He’d kill the greasy bastard himself if he’d known about this. It would be just like Snape to allow Sirius to die, to let Harry suffer thinking that it had been his fault for not learning Occlumency.

“Severus did not know at the time, nor does he know now, that you are a Horcrux. I had him search for a connection between you and Voldemort and once he found that connection, I and I alone, knew that what he had actually found was a soul fragment attached to you. Severus never knew what that connection was or that you are one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes. How could he have possibly guessed at such a thing? He believed, and I encouraged this thought, that the connection you had came from the ritual that you were involved in during Voldemort’s rebirth.”

“I didn’t start having those visions until I was fourteen.” Harry said heavily.

“I believe that the ritual to bring Voldemort back, the ritual in which he used your own blood, strengthened the bond of the Horcrux in you to him. Which is why you went from your scar prickling now and again, to having full visions and even feeling his emotions after that ritual.”

Harry breathed quick and deep and loudly, trying to control himself.

“Have you had any more visions, Harry?”

Harry looked up at those blue eyes in that wrinkled face. “No. I haven’t had any full visions. I’ve felt his emotions now and then. The most recent of which was intense anger.”

“But you don’t know why that might have been or what had caused it?”

“No. I’m trying to block out those visions. They hurt, my scar bursts open and pours blood down my face, if he realises that I’m there then he casts the Cruciatus curse on me. I try to block those visions out as much as possible. When I start feeling emotions that aren’t my own, I distract myself, I don’t go digging anymore. I don’t want to know what he’s doing or why or what is making him feel as he does. I don’t care anymore.”

“It could be a help to us to know what he’s plan…”

“Then you do it! You put yourself on the line to see people being tortured or killed, you put yourself forward to be on the receiving end of the Cruciatus curse! I’m not even seventeen yet!” He raged. “I don’t want to see this shit and I don’t want to be on the end of it!”

“They will only stop when Voldemort is destroyed.”

“Oh, so I have to take mental torture and abuse now, to have a happy life later, when it’s too fucking late?” He sneered. “No. How do I get this Horcrux out of me?”

“The only way is through your death.” Dumbledore said.

Harry gaped at him again. “Excuse me?!” He demanded.

“The only way is to have Voldemort kill you, to remove the Horcrux that he created. If we leave you until last, that leaves Voldemort vulnerable to death afterwards.”

Harry mouthed silently for a moment. “Leave me until last?” He echoed. “Leave me until last?! No! This is not happening, you’re going to have to find another way! I am going to be married, I am going to have children! I am going to make something from the ruins of my life and I am not going to die just because you tell me I have to!”

“It is the only way, Harry. If there were any other way, I wouldn’t have mentioned this to you, but you need not fear death. It is just the next great adventure.”

“That’s easy for you to say you ancient, bat-shit crazy old man! I’m not finished living this life! I am not going to die before I’ve even started having a life, I have a Fiancée, I have plans and things to do, I have dreams and aspirations that I want to fulfil! I am finally forging a place for myself in this world and I will not give up on that to die in my teens!”

“It is the only way, Harry. The only way to destroy Voldemort for good.”

“No. You know what? No! I’ve had enough of always being the lamb brought to slaughter. The one who has to sacrifice everything so people like the fucking Weasleys can live their life in peace with one another. I’ve had enough. Do not contact me ever again. If you find a Horcrux, I don’t even want to know. I don’t want to help destroy them when it means that I’ll come one step closer to my own premature death! You can do it on your fucking own! I am going to have a nice, normal life, I am going to have a nice house, a good job as a teacher, I am going to have a beautiful wife and beautiful children and I will be left alone!”

“How can you have a normal life when Voldemort still lives?”

“Fuck Voldemort and fuck you. You can take him out, I don’t care anymore. If I have to leave the country, I will. I’ll stay in France.”

“He won’t leave you alone, Harry.”

“Then I’ll keep fucking moving. I’m done now! This is too much. Much too much, no more.”

He stood and he stormed out. Ron was there when he went back into the kitchen and of course the redhead tried to get in his face, tried to shout at him, but Harry really was not in the mood and he reached up and seized Ron’s shirt collar, yanked it down and to the right with both fists and he threw Ron from his feet. Ron hit a chair and he and it went sprawling, Hermione gasped, Mrs Weasley screamed, but Harry was too angry. He was so angry that he felt like his head was going to split open.

“Harry, please listen to me.” Dumbledore, who had apparently followed him at a quick step, tried desperately.

“Stay away from me!” He yelled out loudly. “Kreacher!”

The elderly house elf appeared and immediately moved to stand in front of Harry, protecting him, as soon as he felt the tension in the air.

“You don’t have to do that, Kreacher.” He said more calmly, though his rage was boiling away, just under the surface.

“Harry, please. Let us speak some more.” Dumbledore tried, right before Remus came skidding into the room, having heard the shouting and the commotion.

“Harry, are you alright?” He asked, out of breath and looking a little dishevelled. “What’s going on? I didn’t even realise that you were here.”

“I came to be interrogated at Dumbledore’s behest. I’m leaving now, but I’ll be back to see you when you’re not surrounded by liars and crackpots. I still love what you’ve done with the place.”

“Some of the bedrooms have been locked by Kreacher, I can’t get into them to finish decorating.”

“That’s okay, Remus. I told Kreacher to shut certain rooms if anyone other than you were here. He’s just doing what he’s been told to do by me. You can have the summer off decorating, just enjoy yourself a bit, catch up on some reading like me.”

“Now that Kreacher is here, perhaps you could ask him to move some of the furniture, it is almost like it has been bolted down.” Mrs Weasley said from where she was kneeling next to a red faced Ron, a hand on his chest to keep him from moving, likely to attack Harry.

“Don’t move my furniture around.” Harry snapped. “It’s how I want it, I don’t want it moved.”

“All of the beds have been moved and several of them have disappeared altogether. There are no twin rooms anymore and the girls need to share a room because all of the upper bedrooms are sealed.”

“Tough.” Harry said. “If you weren’t all squatting in my house then maybe there would be a room each for them. Remus, did you start the design for that nursery that I asked for?”

“Yes.” Remus said looking between Harry and Molly before he turned and went to get a folder from the kitchen counter. “Here it is.”

“You are planning nurseries already?”

“Of course. I have a year left in school, Aceline has two. Hopefully shortly after she graduates we’ll be married and she’ll be pregnant. I want this done and sorted well before then.”

“You have plenty of time for that, dear.” Mrs Weasley told him.

“I have less time than you think.” Harry said. “I’m graduating in a year and after that I’ll be spending a year in France, doing my teaching apprenticeship. I won’t have time for any of this when I’m focusing my all on that, on my Fiancée, and on the Wizengamot. That’s why I’m doing it now, I want it done before I graduate, all ready for when Aceline and I move in in two, maybe three years’ time.”

Harry took the folder from Remus and he looked at the designs. He nodded.

“Look, Kreacher, see this, this is what I want the third floor spare room to look like.” He said, crouching down and showing the house elf. “If you could focus on the cleaning, Kreacher, Remus can handle the decorating, remember I wanted all neutral colours. Beige, pale green, pale yellow and such. I’ll find the furniture myself.”

“This is mental!” Ron burst out from the floor, still sat with his Mother’s hand holding him down. “You can’t plan babies and nurseries already.”

“I’ve already said that I’m on a tight schedule.” Harry hissed, standing back up. “If I don’t do this now then I won’t have time later. It’s called being organised and planning ahead, not that you even know the definition of the word.” He sneered. “This looks perfect, Remus. If you could make a start on this with Kreacher after the summer that would be wonderful.”

“Kreacher, are you in contact with Bellatrix Lestrange?” Dumbledore asked the little house elf.

Harry grit his teeth and clenched his hand. “I’ve already told you that he isn’t! He only listens to me!”

“Then give him the order to see what he says.”

Harry blew out a breath. “Answer the question please, Kreacher.”

“Kreacher is not in contact with Missy Bella.” Kreacher answered. “Master forbade contact.”

“Did anyone order you to take Gryffindor’s sword?”

“What sort of question is that?!” Harry exploded, he could feel his own face heating up and going red with fury. “If you accuse my house elf then you accuse me, and I was cleared of that during school term!”

“He might have been ordered to take it by someone else in the Black family.”

“Oh, so you’re accusing my family now, are you?” Harry raged.

“Have Kreacher answer the question and we’ll see.” Dumbledore replied.

Harry blew out a heavy breath. “Okay, let’s settle this right here. Kreacher, did you take the sword of Gryffindor from Dumbledore’s office?”

“No, Master.” Kreacher replied easily, and Harry himself breathed a little easier, though he was now incredibly grateful that he’d given those orders just before he came here. He’d had a little niggle of doubt that maybe Dumbledore would try this. His little niggle had been correct, Dumbledore was getting predictable.

“Did I, or anyone else in our family, order you to take it and hide it?” He asked.

“No, Master.”

“Do you know anything about the disappearance of the sword?” He asked.

“No, Master.”

“Thank you, Kreacher.”

Harry turned back to Dumbledore. “Are you fucking happy now?!” He demanded. “I had nothing to do with the sword going missing, I had no clue that it had gone missing until you dragged me out of bed at midnight to accuse me of stealing it. I don’t know where it is or who took it so look elsewhere for it instead of trying to pin its disappearance on me and my family. Now I’m fucking leaving, do not contact me again! Just stay well away from me!”

Harry held his hand out to Kreacher and a moment later he arrived back in Malfoy manor in an absolutely foul mood. He dismissed Kreacher as kindly as he could manage while he was so very angry and he started pacing furiously. His mind was spinning, his thoughts racing, but his mind was now firming to his purpose. He had been planning to stay neutral, he was content to stay out of the way of things, just for Rabastan, without adding in the Malfoys, Rodolphus and Xerxes too, but now…now if the only way he could stay alive was actually to protect Voldemort and his fucking Horcruxes, what would that mean? Could he still remain neutral? Had it actually been very naïve of him to think that he could remain neutral in all of this in the first place?
He knew what he needed to do now though, as a priority, he needed to finally have a face-to-face with Voldemort, and he needed to tell the idiot to move his fucking Horcruxes from wherever he’d hidden them, because Dumbledore was hunting them down, and he knew just where to look.
He stopped his pacing and he strode down the hallway to the family drawing room, his anger almost palpable. He all but shoved the door from its hinges as he threw it open and it actually hit the cabinet behind the door with a loud crack of wood on wood.

“Harry James Potter, what do you think that you are doing?!” His Mother cried out in part shock part anger as the crystal ornaments inside the cabinet rattled dangerously.

Harry was breathing heavily, his fists clenched so tightly that his arms were shaking. He must have looked rather deranged with his fury flushed face, stuck up hair and white clenched fists because Narcissa backed off and the two older Lestranges both had their wands out and ready, just in case.

“What has Dumbledore done, Harry?” Lucius asked, standing up urgently. “Did he give you anything to eat or drink or cast any spells on you?”

Rabastan, undeterred by his visible fury or his deranged countenance, came to him quickly, touching his face and then slipping his arms over his shoulders and winding them around his back, just holding him. They were all rather relieved when Harry held Rabastan back, putting his face in Rabastan’s neck and breathing out a huge breath. He was visibly shaking with rage.

“I need to see him.” He forced out, his voice strangely calm in complete contrast to his wild appearance.

“Who?” Lucius asked. “Dumbledore?”

“No, Voldemort. I need to see him, now.”

“We can pass on any message for you, Harry.” Lucius said quickly. “You don’t need to see him.”

Harry sucked in a breath and he glared out from Rabastan’s arms.

“I need to see him now!”

“What has been said?” Xerxes asked.

“What has Dumbledore planned?” Rodolphus asked, more alarmed that there might be a threat to his Lord.

“I don’t have time for this! I am connected to him, if I really wanted to contact him, I could do it myself and he’ll be furious because of it! Take me to him, now! We might not have the luxury of time.” He added, trying to get them moving.

“We’ve always been summoned, Harry. We’ve never just turned up.” Rabastan explained patiently.

“He will make an exception for this, it’s too important.”

Rabastan nodded and he trusted his Fiancé so much that he was willing to do as asked, he was willing to face the wrath of his Lord to do as Harry asked. He just gripped Harry tighter and spun on the spot, Apparating Harry to the manor house that their Lord was residing in.

“Please watch your tone, Harry.” Rabastan warned him. “Be quiet and respectful. This isn’t a Wizengamot debate. He speaks, you listen.”

“As I am here to tell him things, that won’t really work, love.” Harry pointed out as they approached a manor house via a white gravel pathway that cut through an immaculate lawn.

“Harry, this isn’t a game, my love. I won’t see you hurt, I can’t see you hurt.” He said desperately.

“He’s not going to hurt me. Not with what I have to tell him.” Harry said confidently.

“Harry!” Rabastan chastised him sternly. “Be respectful and don’t anger him.”

“Listen to him.” Rodolphus said, storming up behind them.

“Why are you here?” Harry demanded.

“To make sure neither of you get killed.” Rodolphus said simply.

Harry sucked in a breath as they reached the house and the door creaked open on its own, though Harry knew that it was likely an invisible house elf.

“Thank you.” He said politely.

“Stop that.” Rodolphus said immediately. “This isn’t the place for your oddball quirks.”

Harry sent him the look that his comment deserved. But he reasoned that these two men were just afraid for him. He had, until recently, been the number one target for these people. The truce, or whatever it could be called, was tenuous at best, though perhaps this little meeting would actually go some ways to strengthen it.
That and neither of the Lestrange brothers knew exactly why he’d suddenly demanded to come here for this meeting right out of the blue. They had no idea that he had several, very huge and valuable, bargaining chips to play with. Voldemort couldn’t kill him, he might get hurt and he would be prepared for that, but he was confident with the information that he had, that despite the anger it would cause, he would not be the target of that anger…he just hoped that Rodolphus and Rabastan wouldn’t be convenient targets.
They had to go up a set of stairs and down a corridor, before turning onto another corridor that had only three doors off of it, and Harry lost his flared temper completely when he saw Wormtail stood there nervously, in front of the right side door, wringing his hands and twitching.

“Get out of my fucking face.” Harry hissed poisonously.

“Ha…Harry, wonderful to see you again, and in such company.” The man quivered, his small eyes darting from him, to Rabastan, then to the taller, more intimidating seeming Rodolphus. “What would your parents think of seeing you with them…what would Sirius and Remus think?”

Harry wanted to curse him, to tell him that he wasn’t fit to mention their fucking names. Instead he took a breath and he was clever with his answer, having learnt how to think on his feet in the Wizengamot, as he was sure that Voldemort was on the other side of the door, listening to them.

“I would hope that you weren’t trying to ruin this tentative truce by reminding me of the family that I lost thanks to you?” He said through gritted teeth. “It would be a shame if I called an end to the truce because of you and your words and went back to…interfering in delicate matters.”

Wormtail looked terrified and his little eyes darted to the door that he had been stood outside of. Harry’s hunch had been correct, Voldemort was listening from in that room.

“Now, I suggest that you be a good little rat and get out of my sight, because just looking at you makes me want to try my hand at the Cruciatus curse and I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of my fiancé and his brother when I fail again.”

“You’ve cast it before?” Rodolphus asked in total surprise.

“Only the once, on your beautiful, wonderful wife, the bitch that she is. I couldn’t make it stick, though. Then I should have known that a first attempt wouldn’t work.”

“Try it again.” Rodolphus encouraged enthusiastically, pulling Harry forward, into his own arms, and setting his body into a fighting stance. “Wand out, try it. It could be your wand placement that made you fail the first time.”

“I didn’t come here for this.” Harry said.

“Just try it.” Rodolphus almost purred in his ear, holding him steady by his upper arms, sliding the right one down to cup Harry’s elbow, positioning his hand.

Harry stared at Wormtail, who was cornered in the corridor, the only escape being behind Rabastan, Rodolphus and Harry, who had his wand pointed at him, as Harry assumed that the two remaining doors, those that didn’t have Voldemort behind them, were either locked or were dead ends too. Harry took in a deep, ragged sounding breath, thinking of the cowardice of this man who had betrayed his own best friends just to keep living his miserable, measly life, and the fury was just there. This was the man who had killed his parents. Not Voldemort. This was the man who had sold them out, his own best friends who had loved and trusted him and would have gladly, unhesitantly, died for him if the roles had been reversed. This man who was snivelling and darting his small, watery blue eyes all over, as if even now he was looking for an escape from the pain that he deserved.

“Crucio!” He yelled out, pouring all that hate and loathing into the curse.

Wormtail hit the floor screaming, tearing at his own body, his own thin, colourless hair, writhing and bending in unnatural ways.
Harry cut the curse by moving away his wand and he was panting hard, feeling exhilarated, joyful for having caused this lowly rat a modicum of pain that he had caused Harry, had caused Sirius and Remus, had caused his parents in their last moments when they realised that they had been betrayed by one of the few people that they had trusted with their lives, with their infant son’s life.
Rabastan grabbed him, turned him and kissed him…hard. Harry smiled at him and hugged him tightly.

“You’re happy.” Harry pointed out.

“We both are.” Rodolphus said, ruffling his hair with a large hand, scratching Harry’s scalp lightly with his nails. “Well done, tiny boy. That was very impressive.”

“That felt good.” He said with a grin. Then his smile slid from his face. “This is wasting time though, I’m here for a reason.”

He turned to the door and he was polite enough to knock and wait for an answer.

“Come to me, Harry Potter.” A soft, cold voice beckoned.

“Wait here.” Harry said to the two brothers. “I’ll be fine.” He told them, hoping that he was actually right. He gave Rabastan one last, long look and he opened the door and he closed it behind him.

Voldemort was alone in the room, standing by a blazing fire. It was the same large drawing room from his vision and Harry approached him unhesitantly, he did not fear this man, or what he’d seen him do in this very room.
He stood on the opposite side of the central coffee table and he stared at Voldemort’s back, waiting for him to turn around so that they could have a conversation.
Voldemort finally did turn to look at him and those red eyes examined him from top to bottom, as if looking for any changes that might have occurred, before boring into his eyes.

“This is a surprise, Harry, I had been under the impression that you did not want any contact with me, as your first and only letter to me explained rather plainly.”

“The situation has changed since then. Is this room now secure? You wouldn’t want word of this getting out to anyone else I wouldn’t imagine.”

“The room is secure. Now that you have piqued my interest and my curiosity, what is this little change of heart about?”

“I have a one word topic for you. Horcruxes.” Harry said simply.

He watched as Voldemort’s face changed. He watched it go from mild amusement, from curiosity and a rather strange indulgence, to stone cold fury. There was a flash of something dangerous and inhumane in those scarlet eyes, but Harry had seen that happen before, and he refused to allow it to quell or cow him.

“What did you say?” That soft voice demanded, going higher and colder.

Harry didn’t bother repeating himself. Voldemort had heard him perfectly. “Dumbledore knows. He’s hunting them down and destroying them. I know of two that have been destroyed already, but some of the others are uncertain. What is certain is that they’re all compromised and they’re unsafe wherever they are now.”

Harry watched the fury grow, and he was glad that no one else was in the room with them, particularly not Rabastan, or Rodolphus either.

“Which two have been destroyed?” Voldemort finally demanded.

Harry sighed and he took a seat, relaxing himself and showing no fear. It was the only way to maintain even the slightest bit of control in this situation, even if he was…perhaps not frightened, but worried about the outcome of this little meeting.

“I know that you made seven, or that you intended to make seven. I know that you used the treasures that you collected in your youth, including relics of the Hogwarts Founders.”

“Which two?!” Voldemort hissed, his red eyes flashing dangerously, warning Harry not to test him any further.

Harry met those eyes unflinchingly. “You will not harm me or my family, not ever.” Harry said.

Those eyes almost spat fire at him and Voldemort started playing with his wand.

“I could torture it from you.”

“You could, but knowing what I do, I would never break under torture, and I think you know that, which is why you are merely threatening it, and haven’t just done it already, without any sort of warning.”

“I could hurt Rabastan, he is just outside the door.”

“You could, though it would put him right back to the start of his recovery and he’d be all but useless to you. Then, knowing as I do how valuable this information is, and how valuable Rabastan and Rodolphus are to you, I would think it better to just safeguard my family instead, so that everyone wins.”

“If I agree?” Voldemort asked after a heavy, tension riddled pause.

“I would tell you everything I know, and I would offer what assistance I could. After all, Dumbledore still believes that I want you dead because of what you did to me and my family before. He doesn’t understand me, or how I think and feel, so he doesn’t understand that the family I have now comes before the one I lost.”

“Then I agree.” Voldemort told him. “I would agree not to harm you or any of those you call family in return for this information.”

Harry nodded his acceptance. “Dumbledore believes that your Horcruxes are your old diary, the Gaunt family ring, Slytherin’s locket, Hufflepuff’s cup and your snake, Nagini. He also suspects that you’ve found some relic of Ravenclaw’s, though he doesn’t know what it is yet. Is he close?”

“Yes.” Voldemort said rather stiffly, looking murderous.

“The ring and the diary have been destroyed. I accidentally destroyed one when I was twelve. I didn’t know what it was or what it meant. I also killed the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, so I apologise for that. Dumbledore found and destroyed the ring last summer. He also…he found where you’d hidden the locket. He took me with him to get it in June, it was my hope that perhaps I could snatch it and perhaps keep a hold of it, but there was no need. Someone had beaten us to it and left a fake in its place. I figured out who that was, and I found the real Slytherin’s locket. I have that safe now, and Dumbledore doesn’t know that I have it, I gave him the fake locket and sent him on a merry trip having destroyed the crucial piece of the clue that would have led to the perpetrator, so he won’t figure out who took it, thus he’ll never figure out where it might have ended up or that I now have it.”

“You have it? You will hand it to me, now.” Voldemort hissed at him, almost slipping into Parseltongue.

Harry nodded easily. “Pimsey.” He called out, thankfully remembering at the last moment that Kreacher believed that he was going to destroy the locket for Master Regulus.

“What can Pimsey be doing for young master?” Pimsey asked, facing him and curtseying, but Harry could almost see the tension running through her tiny body.

“There is a locket, in my school trunk which is in my bedroom. Can you get it for me, please?”

Pimsey curtseyed again and she vanished. Almost immediately after she was back, and she handed him the locket. Harry dismissed her right away and then he held out the locket to Voldemort, who took the undamaged Horcrux in gentle, reverent hands, almost as if it were a baby.

“I won’t tell you what to do, but I would recommend that you went and collected all of your Horcruxes and put them all in a new location. Locations that Dumbledore would never figure out.”

“What changed?” Voldemort asked him. “Why now? Especially as you have already admitted to knowing about this beforehand.”

Harry took in a breath and he looked away. He tried to control the anger within himself.

“You know that we are linked. That I can sometimes feel your emotions or crash your mind, just like you can do to me?”

“Yes.” Voldemort’s red eyes narrowed questioningly.

“Dumbledore told me today, not an hour ago actually, that the reason we are linked is because when you came to kill me that night that you accidentally made me into a Horcrux, and the only way to kill you for good was to destroy all of your Horcruxes, which would also include me. I don’t want to die. I want to live my life, I want to marry Rabastan and have a family with him, and I want a nice, normal life. I don’t want to be killed because you made me one of your Horcruxes.”

Voldemort stood abruptly and he approached him. Harry stayed still and quiet, showing no fear. Voldemort waved his wand right in front of his face and those red eyes widened.

“The prophesy was your greatest downfall.” Harry told him. “By coming after me, you made me one of the things keeping you alive. In order to kill you, I have to die. To keep you alive, I have to stay alive.”

“Then it seems that keeping you safe has just become an utmost priority.” Voldemort told him.

“There’s one more thing I wished to see you about. A goodwill gesture if you will, to seal our deal on not harming me or my family, which includes my future children.”

“And what might this gesture be?” Voldemort asked, the anger gone now to be replaced by more curiosity.

“You’ve lost two Horcruxes, but you’ve gained me as a Horcrux. I was your eighth piece of soul, the one you didn’t know that you’d made. By my count now, you are one short of the seven pieces that you wanted. What if I told you that I’d found a relic of Gryffindor? My goodwill gesture for our deal is handing you the relic with which you could make your seven Horcruxes again.”

Those red eyes gleamed and lit up with joy.

“Then I fully agree to your deal. I have searched for a relic of Gryffindor for many years, and never heard of such an item. How did you come across this relic?”

“It smashed into the top of my head and almost knocked me unconscious when I killed the Basilisk.” Harry said. “It’s made of goblin silver, so it only takes in that which makes it stronger to my understanding, which means it’s filled with Basilisk venom. Dumbledore took it off me, after all I was only twelve. But I stole it back this year, acted completely confused about the whole thing, and sent him running off in the wrong direction again. I’m very good at doing that.”

“So it seems, then he doesn’t truly expect you to be working with me.”

“I’m not truly working with you. I still want to remain as neutral as I possibly can. I only came here today because of what Dumbledore told me, about me being one of your Horcruxes. I don’t want to die, I have a life that I want to live. I’ve planned out so much that to be told that I’m expected to just lay down my life in a sacrifice…that I have to die just for everyone else to live. I mean, why is my life so worthless? Why am I the one who has to sacrifice everything, everything, including my own life just for other people, total strangers, to live their lives in peace and comfort? No, I’m not going to do it! I want to carry on building up my life, I want to change the world one law at a time, I want to get married, have children of my own. I will not allow anyone to destroy those plans.”

“You need to be protected at all times. As one of my Horcruxes, you are instrumental to my survival.”

Harry sucked in a deep breath and he shook his head. “I don’t need to be put in a bubble or restricted from socialising, Dumbledore was insistent that it had to be you who cast the curse. Something about only one who had created a Horcrux being able to destroy it. Unless he wants to burn me to death with fiendfyre, but I can’t see him ruining his reputation in such a way, I’m still Harry Potter after all, regardless of anything, he can’t just kill me out of hand.”

“I will take no chances. The Lestranges are loyal, I would have you tell them of this and they will know to protect you. They are the only ones of my followers who know of the Horcruxes. Bellatrix has one in her vault at Gringotts for me.”

“Her vault from the Lestranges, or the one that went with her from the Black family?”

“Ah, of course, as Lord Black you are able to walk into any vault of your family and remove items as you wish without their permission, or even their knowledge.”

Harry nodded. “So if you wanted it back without anyone knowing, perhaps leaving a duplicate in its place, I could do that without going through Bellatrix, who is not the most stable of people.”

Voldemort actually looked pleased and Harry tried not to show how torn up he was about this whole meeting, how conflicted he felt. He consoled himself and soothed his turbulent thoughts, this was the only way he could carry on living. This was the only way he could marry Rabastan, have children and actually raise them with his chosen husband. This was the only way he could actually live, and living was all he wanted now. He had made the only choice that he’d had left to him after Dumbledore’s talk that morning. Now he had to stick to that decision and if that meant working, even slightly, with Voldemort, then that was what he had to do. It was a small price to pay in his opinion.

“Can I tell my Father about this, or just the Lestranges?” Harry asked, standing up.

“Your Father only, in addition to the Lestranges.” Voldemort said sternly.

Harry nodded. “In that case, it was a pleasure speaking to you today. Kreacher.” He called out.

“What can Kreacher be doing for Master?” The elf asked him, staring at him through too wide, bulbous eyes. Of course, Kreacher would remember the man who had tormented him by forcing him to drink that green potion. The man who had led to Master Regulus’ death.

“I need the sword, Kreacher.”

Kreacher nodded and he popped away. He came back with the sword in his hands and Harry took it and dismissed Kreacher right away, as he had done with Pimsey, so that he wouldn’t be in contact with Voldemort for too long.

“Gryffindor’s sword, as promised in exchange for the protection of my entire family, both current and future.” Harry said, handing it over carefully.

He saw Voldemort run his thumb over the engraving of Godric Gryffindor’s name.

“Thank you, Harry Potter. I will honour our agreement with the precious, invaluable gift that you have given to me. Go now, and tell those what has transpired here. They need to know about this to better protect you.”

Harry nodded. He turned and walked to the door, he opened it and there was immediate movement from his left. He shut the door and smiled as Rabastan embraced him, almost looking for injuries of any sort.

“I’m alright.” Harry said with a smile. “I’ve told you before, I can handle myself. Come on, I want to go home. There are things I need to tell you.”

“Have you got permission?” Rodolphus demanded.

“Yes, Dolphus. Stop fussing. I’ve been told it’s something that you’ve already been told about, but what I have to say is going to make more sense if I have the time to properly explain it, and it includes the little jaunt that I went on with Dumbledore too.”

“Are we finally going to find out the huge secret surrounding that?”

Harry nodded and he tugged on Rabastan’s hand to get him moving. They started walking through the house and Harry continued holding Rabastan’s hand. He liked the strength and warmth of it holding his own. Then his rather pleasant visit was ruined.

“I’d heard that you were here.” The pitched voice of Bellatrix Lestrange came from behind them.

Harry turned and the fury was immediate and powerful. His wand was in his hand before he’d even actually thought about it.

“Going to curse me again, ickle baby Potter?” She taunted him spitefully.

“Why don’t you fuck off before I disown and disinherit you.” He hissed.

“If you could do as such, you would have already done it.” She said back with a nasty smirk.

“Do not make me take you to hand again.” Rodolphus threatened. “You might not recover as well as you did the last time.”

Her face flushed an angry purple at the threat from her husband and she reached for her wand.

“Don’t you even dare.” Rodolphus said easily, his own wand in his hand.

Rabastan made to pull Harry away, behind him, but Harry didn’t move. He wasn’t afraid of Voldemort and he certainly wasn’t afraid of this crazy bitch.

“Dolphus.” Harry said softly. “If you do take her to hand, aim to kill.” He said easily. “Death will leave you free to find a more suitable wife, one who will actually give you children and as Lord Black, I will not persecute you for her death, nor hold it against you.”

Harry turned and he took Rabastan’s hand, they started walking off and Rodolphus laughed and he turned and came with them, protecting their backs, but Harry took a look back, and he saw Bellatrix holding her arm. She’d been summoned and had to answer immediately or risk Voldemort’s fury. Harry guessed that Voldemort knew everything that happened in this house, despite it not being his own, and of course, Bellatrix threatening to harm him, one of his own Horcruxes, and just after he had agreed to safeguard Harry and his family, it would have infuriated him. Harry would not want to be Bellatrix for the next half hour or so.
They walked in silence and Harry breathed in the fresh air. It was bright and sunny outside, the sky was blue and cloudless. It was such a perfect day, a day that had been marred by such momentous news that had changed everything, including his own mind set and his plans for staying completely neutral, as that option was now no longer available to him.
He sighed and held on tighter to Rabastan’s hand.

“Are you sure that you’re alright?” Rabastan asked him.

“Sorry, love.” Harry said, running his free hand through his hair. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Hopefully sharing these thoughts will help unburden you somewhat.” Rabastan said worriedly.

“That or it’s going to burden you too.” Harry said.

“I’m sure I can handle whatever it is.” His Fiancé promised as they reached the outer gate of the property. Harry said nothing.

Rabastan held him tight and close, more so than usual, as they Apparated back home.

“Pimsey.” Harry called out gently once his feet touched solid ground again, and once he’d recovered his breathing from the awful feeling of being constricted through a drinking straw.

She appeared immediately after he called her and she curtseyed to him.

“Thank you very much for your decorum earlier, I was very pleased with your conduct.” He said with a smile. “You did really well. Can we please have some tea served in the drawing room?”

“Yes, young master, of course.” She said happily, tears in her eyes and her ears flapping as she nodded furiously. She vanished and Harry smiled and led the way from the receiving room to the drawing room.

“You speak to that elf as if it’s human.” Rodolphus complained.

“To me she is.” Harry answered. “This isn’t the time to argue about it though, Dolphus. There are incredibly important things that I need to discuss with you all. Life or death things. My life, my death.”

“Have you been threatened?” Rabastan demanded, his fury being stoked at the very thought of anyone putting Harry’s life in danger.

“Of course he has, he just waltzed into the Dark Lord’s headquarters without even a cursory note or message to give him any forewarning of the meeting, let alone actually waited for permission for such a meeting.” Rodolphus pointed out.

Harry sighed. “I’ll explain in a minute, but I haven’t been threatened. At least not directly, it’ll all make sense in a minute, just let me sit down and explain it all.”

Harry made it to the drawing room and he was thankful that neither Draco, nor Narcissa, were in the room with Lucius and Xerxes, so he wouldn’t have to go through the arguing or embarrassment of asking them to leave, or even the humiliation of throwing them out of the room. He stood to the side and allowed Rodolphus to go past him into the room, Rabastan had stopped and waited for him.
Harry closed the door and tapped it with his wand, locking the door and then silencing the room.

“What is going on, Harry?” His Father asked him. Those grey eyes looked him over critically, assessing him.

“I’ve been told to let you all in on what has happened, including the little jaunt with Dumbledore, and exactly what the prick said to me this morning.”

Harry stalked to the settee and he sat on it, tugging Rabastan with him. As soon as his Fiancé was sat down, Harry turned to snuggle into him, kicking off his shoes as he did so.

“I take it that you weren’t harmed today?” Xerxes asked.

“Of course not. I’m very, very important.” He rolled his own eyes at his comment and huffed.

“What are you waiting for?” Lucius asked.

“Tea.” Harry said. “Though I suppose starting the story wouldn’t hurt. I should start really by saying that those meetings with Dumbledore weren’t about us reconciling, we both knew that our relationship was much too damaged to ever be anything other than what it had become, which is now rather frosty and poisonous, from my end at least.”

“So those meetings were a guise for something else.” Lucius sighed, as if already having suspected as such.

“Exactly. Our personal relationship had deteriorated to the point of no return, but he hoped that our professional relationship could be spared still, for the sake of the greater good.”

“And what was the greater good?” Rodolphus demanded, looking furious. He already had an idea of what Harry meant, it was just a shit that it was the right one.

“Obviously destroying Voldemort.” Harry said. “What else would it be with that man?”

“You went to those meetings, sat there and plotted how to destroy our Lord, when…”

“Shut up, Rodolphus.” Harry cut in sharply. “He is not my fucking Lord. He’s yours. I sat in those meetings because I’d been told to, I never wanted to go near him ever again after what he did to me! But I realised the importance of those meetings early on, so I carried on going, yes, and now it has come in incredibly useful because I know what Dumbledore is doing you thick headed, brainless ape! Did you consider that in your spiel? That perhaps I carried on going to those meetings so that I’d know what Dumbledore and his little Order are planning, did you?!”

“Is that why you went to see him today?” Xerxes asked. “To tell him what Dumbledore was planning?”

“I was always planning on it, but I wanted to see how much information I could glean from Dumbledore first.” Harry said. “Then I had that meeting with him this morning, and everything changed.”

Pimsey arrived then with the tray holding five cups, a bowl of sugar, a little pitcher of milk and a large teapot covered with a knitted tea cosy. Harry sat forward and he thanked her, getting and maintaining eye contact to show his sincerity, before making the tea himself for everyone, dismissing Pimsey back to whatever she had been doing before he’d called her.
He sat back once he was done and sipped for a moment, then he sighed, knowing that this had to be done, but it was not, by any means, going to be an easy conversation.

“Everything I say here and now, it cannot leave this room. I was given permission only to tell those of you here now, no one else.”

The four men all nodded and Harry took a huge gulp of tea and put the cup down.

“I’ve been told that three of you know about the Horcruxes.”

It was amusing to Harry to see three grown men going as white as sheets.

“How do you…?” Xerxes whispered in shock.

“The meetings Dumbledore and I were having, it was all about them, in a roundabout, indirect way. Taking a trip through Voldemort’s memory, learning about him, how he grew up, how he thought and acted, all as a way to predict his future steps, so that we might stay one step ahead of him and cut off his plans before he had a chance to act them out. That’s how I saw that memory of you with the perverted teacher who I thought was grooming students. Dumbledore guessed about the Horcruxes from the memories he collected and he showed them to me, he shared that information with me. I not only know about the Horcruxes, but I know how many and what they are, I even know where some of them are actually hidden, because Dumbledore knows.”

Harry looked at his hands and debated how to even mention himself being a Horcrux. He didn’t know how these men would react when he told them that he was an instrumental piece of the puzzle in keeping their Lord alive. He sighed heavily and looked up.

“I was collecting all the information and I was going to use it to strike a deal with Voldemort. I tell him what I know…which is what Dumbledore knows, and in return he leaves me and my family alone.”

“You were arrogant enough to think that you could blackmail the Dark Lord into doing your bidding?” Xerxes demanded furiously. “I actually credited you with a modicum of intelligence before this, Harry, but truly, what in the name of Merlin were you thinking?”

Harry snorted. “I was thinking that I could exchange what he wanted, for what I wanted and as he has agreed to my deal and has actually already done my bidding, I’m going to have to say yes, I was arrogant enough to blackmail him into doing what I wanted, and it worked perfectly.”

“He…he agreed to your deal?” Rodolphus asked in shock.

“He had no choice as I didn’t leave him any. I lied to you all, the stolen sword of Gryffindor wasn’t to bribe the goblins, it was to bribe him, because I knew from those memories that Dumbledore showed me that he wanted it. He wanted it so desperately that he would have given me anything that I asked for, just for that sword, without anything else I had to offer him. So I’ve safeguarded my family, all of you, Draco, our future children. They’re all safe, because I knew what he wanted and I had the balls to steal it from Dumbledore and use it as a bargaining chip.”

“Why not just give him the sword then, why offer the information as well?” Rabastan asked. “If the Dark Lord wanted the sword so desperately, you could have kept the information that you knew back, but you didn’t, so why did you share everything?”

“My dear, Rabastan.” Harry smiled cheekily. “In my scant year of being under the influence of you Purebloods, I’ve learnt a thing or two…or several, about these little games and social manoeuvrings. I offered him everything that I knew, to make him believe that he was getting more, or the better deal, out of the exchange. That’s how this all works. You make someone think the idea you planted in their heads was their idea in the first place to gain backing and support for it, you give people more than they expect to wrangle what you want from them, without them realising that they’ve done exactly as you wanted them to do in the first place. It’s all delicate, intricate puppeteering and I am getting very, very good at it.”

“I’m not sure if that actually frightens me or not.” Xerxes said. “That you’ve gotten so good at these ‘games’ as you call them, to successfully play them on the Dark Lord.”

“He got the better half of the deal.” Harry shrugged. “In his mind at least, so I don’t see why anyone would complain.”

“There is something that you aren’t saying.” Lucius said, speaking up for the first time since Harry had started explaining. “Something made you act today, something made you feel that you either had enough information to go to the Dark Lord, or perhaps that you were running out of time in order to do so. What did Dumbledore say to you this morning that made you so angry, that made you act immediately, when before you had been content to watch and wait?”

“He…” Harry stopped and licked his lips, looking to Rabastan and wondering if this would change their relationship. If his Fiancé would see him more of a mission than a partner after this.

As if reading his thoughts Rabastan took his hand and kissed it.

“Whatever it is, it changes nothing. I love you here and now, as you are.”

Harry took strength from that, and he put his trust in his Fiancé. He would trust that Rabastan meant his words, that their love would conquer any thoughts of him being just a Horcrux, or just a mission to protect his Lord.

“I found out today that I’m a Horcrux too. That’s how I survived the killing curse as a baby.”

There was silence. Utter, deafening silence.

“How is this possible?” Xerxes finally asked.

“He’d split his soul so many times before that night that it was unstable, two deaths in the same night, my parents, was too much for his soul to take and a part of it split off without his knowledge and attached itself to the only living thing in that house. Me. Then he cast the killing curse on me, but the Horcrux fought against the attack for its new host, which was me. Which is how I survived and how Voldemort got to be a floaty spirit with no body for a decade. Anyway. He can’t hurt or kill me now without weakening himself, as I’m a piece of his little puzzle that’s keeping him alive.”

“What does this have to do with Dumbledore?” Lucius asked.

“He knew. He knew that I was a Horcrux, and he told me this morning that…that in order to destroy Voldemort for good, I had to die.”

Rabastan clenched him almost crushingly tight and Harry accepted the hold without complaint. He felt the need to be closer than close to his Fiancé after the fear and shock of that day.

“I wasn’t going to accept that once again I was the one who would have to sacrifice everything for other people to live. That I had to make the ultimate sacrifice and give up my own life, my future, my family, my plans of marriage and my dreams of children, just so that strangers could live their happily ever after when my life went from misery to misery, from one disaster to another, at least until last year. I just…it was the last straw and I knew I had to do something, then and there, to stop this from happening, to prevent my own premature death. I already did that once with the hypocalcaemia, I was not willing to ever do it again, so I went to Voldemort with all the information that I had, with the sword of Gryffindor as a gift and the knowledge that I was one of his Horcruxes, to strike a deal with him, because I want to live, and in order for me to live in the peace that I want so desperately, I…I have to be on his side, not Dumbledore’s, because Dumbledore would see me dead purely because I was a Horcrux. To him I am nothing else except a tether, anchoring Voldemort to life, and to get rid of Voldemort, that tether has to be cut and there is only one way to get rid of a Horcrux…you destroy it so completely that it can’t possibly come back.”

“So, you are no longer neutral?” Rodolphus asked, almost happily, proudly. “After what you did to that rat, I would like to see more of what you can do. To test you to see how you react.”

Harry sighed. “I am sort of still neutral, I don’t want to fight, that hasn’t changed, but now there is a natural lean towards Voldemort. Truly, if it means that I get to live, that I survive, I was always going to go to the side that allowed me to have a life, but I will never be one of his followers, I will never wear his vile mark, I will never torture people just for the hell of it, Wormtail excluded, as he isn’t a person, but a rat. I couldn’t do what any of you do and harm innocent people, kill just because I’ve been told to do so.” He shook his head. “So no, I’m still neutral, but I’ll help out where I can, as Dumbledore would never expect me to turn, or to be a spy, so I believe, even after this most recent bust up, that he will still trust me enough to tell me sensitive information. I’ll just have to be careful how much I reveal or pass on, because any of it could be a test of loyalty and failure could mean my death.”

Rabastan kissed him and, surprised, Harry turned to him and smiled, cupping that face in his hand and pressing firmly.

“I love you.” Harry declared easily. “I was always going to take the path that allowed me to stay with you, no matter what it was, or with who, as long as I could be with you, as long as we could still have our family and live in peace.”

“I’d do anything to make that a reality for you.” Rabastan told him, oddly choked up by Harry’s words. He should be stronger than this, much stronger, but he’d never really had anyone love him as much as Harry did. He’d never loved anyone as much as he did Harry.

“You don’t need to. I did it for us. So I’ve sort of earned a lot of points today, I safeguarded our family, including our future children, and I saved your Lord from imminent destruction. I will take repayment for such in the form of loving affection.” Harry teased.

Rabastan took him seriously and started nuzzling his neck, just how Harry liked, and Harry let out a very unmanly giggle as those lips caught a sensitive patch of skin that had him wriggling.

“If Dumbledore knows about you being a Horcrux, he could kill you.” Rodolphus pointed out. “You need to be protected.”

“I’m a person, Rodolphus, not an object.” Harry said sternly. “There are only a few ways to destroy a Horcrux, all of which require that the host, or vessel, is destroyed beyond all magical repair. You would know that this is incredibly difficult to do. A Horcrux can be undone by the maker’s hand, which means Voldemort himself needs to kill me and he’s not going to now. Then of course there is being exposed to, or ingesting, potent magical venom, such as Basilisk venom, Acromantula venom, Manticore venom etcetera. Then there is fiendfyre, which is hideously difficult to control, so you know, most sane people won’t even attempt it. Besides, Dumbledore can’t just turn around and kill me, there would be an uproar. At the moment I’m still a student, and he’s still Headmaster.”

“Uproar or no, I don’t want him near you now.” Rabastan said firmly. “He knows that you won’t sacrifice yourself, you’ve told him as such, so he’s going to kill you, Harry. It’s the only way he can get rid of our Lord. You are literally standing in his way of achieving that. He has to go through you, Harry, and there will come a time that he will try to do so, you need to understand that.”

“Of course there will come a time, after he’s found and destroyed the other Horcruxes. Horcruxes that he’ll never find because that little jaunt with him at the end of the term was to go and collect one of them.”

“What?” Lucius exploded. “You went and you stole one of the Dark Lord’s Horcruxes?”

“No, someone got there before us, so I literally almost died for no fucking reason, but in my defence, I went to keep Dumbledore from getting it, in the hope that I could take it for myself and then use that to bribe Voldemort with.”

“I…I have no words.” Xerxes said, looking as gobsmacked as he sounded.

“Obviously it didn’t work quite in that way, as someone had stolen it first. But they’d left a fake Horcrux behind, with a note. I stole the fake and then happily gave it to Dumbledore to prove my loyalty, after ‘trimming’ the clue inside it so only I could figure it out.”

“That locket. The Black locket that you showed me.” Rabastan said with a sudden realisation.

Harry nodded. “Regulus Black switched his allegiances. He found out about the Horcruxes because Voldemort used Kreacher, the Black elf, to test the protections on the locket Horcrux. Regulus then ordered Kreacher to take him to the place it was kept and he switched out the Horcrux with his own childhood locket.”

“How did you figure that out? Regulus died decades ago, when he was only eighteen.” Rodolphus said.

“You asked me about Regulus, about his name. You asked me if he had a middle name.”

“It was you who led me to the real Horcrux, my love.” Harry said with a grin. “The clue inside the fake Horcrux was signed R. A. B. When you recognised the locket as belonging to Regulus…well, Regulus Black, that’s two of the letters of the signature, so I asked you if he had a middle name, and you told me that it was Arcturus. R. A. B. It all fit. So I went to Hogwarts right after, having cut the signature from the clue, and I gave the fake Horcrux with the altered clue to Dumbledore in a show of loyalty, called Kreacher to me once in private and low and behold, he had the real Horcrux in Grimmauld Place all along, after all that time. So I got the Horcrux, gave him an old, ugly Black ring to secure his loyalty in a more natural way instead of just master and house elf, and then I gave that Horcrux to Voldemort just now, after securing protection for my family, of course.”

“You bribed the Dark Lord with his own Horcrux, Harry.” Xerxes said weakly.

“Yep, and it worked wonderfully well, as I said. So I suppose what I’m trying to say is that Dumbledore will never find all of the Horcruxes. Never. So there’s no need for any of you to worry about me. He literally came out and said that I could be ‘left for last’, that the other Horcruxes would come first.”

“He said that to you?” Rabastan demanded furiously.

“He told you that you could be killed last?” Rodolphus said in horror.

Harry nodded. “I suppose that hearing that, that’s what made me blow my calm. I was so angry, and I guess I was a little hurt too. He knew…he knew before I was adopted, back when I actually trusted him still, back when I thought the sun shined out of his arse and he hung the moon and stars, and even back then, he was planning on having me killed.”

Harry’s voice hitched without his permission and Rabastan turned to hold him. Harry rested on him and gripped a fistful of his robes.

“It just seems like the ultimate betrayal. That I trusted him so much and he was planning to kill me. When he pretended to be so nice to me, acting like he actually cared about me, when all along he was looking at me and seeing just an obstacle. It was no wonder that he never cared what my home life was like, or that I undertook all of those dangerous little adventures I went on. My life was worthless to him, it didn’t matter if I was injured, ill or unhappy, or even abused at home, despite that I’d told him about it, because he knew that in the end I had to die anyway.”

“I love you.” Rabastan told him. “I care for you, about you, I would do anything to keep you safe and happy. You are with people who care for you now. You don’t have to rely on him anymore.”

Harry nodded and he held onto Rabastan tighter. “I just never thought him capable of such callousness.”

“He’s false, Harry.” Lucius said. “He puts on a front of care and compassion, but he was willing to sacrifice you in a single moment, just to achieve his own goals.”

“It was no wonder he never told me about my Lordships, or my seats on the Wizengamot. He was expecting that I’d be dead before I was old enough to claim them. So in his mind there was no point in even telling me in the first place, so he could just run along and be my proxy and then once I was dead, just take over for good, claiming my Lordships for himself, as I was the last claimant for the Potter line, and one of the last for the Black line. Things could have been much different if I hadn’t listened to one grumpy old man in a fucking coffee shop.”

“Thinking like that won’t help, Harry. You did listen to that man, you did go to claim your Lordships and I adopted you as my son.” Lucius pointed out. “Yes, things could have been very different if none of that had happened, but it did happen, so push it from your mind.”

Harry nodded. He understood, thoughts like that could drive a person mad. He snuggled back into Rabastan and tried not to think, he tried not to linger on what might have been, what could have been. He decided to focus on the here and now, and the fact that his plan had worked perfectly. He had managed to bribe Voldemort to protect his family. It had costed him the sword of Gryffindor and Slytherin’s locket, but he considered them gifts well spent as it meant he could safeguard his family, and that was the most important thing in the world to him. His family.

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A/N: We are almost at the end of our month of Black Heir updates, I might be able to get another chapter out, maybe two at a push, then I will be flitting off elsewhere, to other fics for a while, though I will be coming back to this fic throughout the year, as often as I can.

Lyra (Guest): No, Xerxes was thinking of just Rabastan when he thought of that. He himself would never turn against his Lord, and one of his oldest friends, no matter what happened, despite how much he likes Harry and enjoys his company, nothing comes before Voldemort to him.

unknown (Guest): Draco obviously knows about Harry’s Parseltongue abilities, as he was there in the duelling club when Harry used it in front of the school (when everyone thought he was setting the snake onto Justin Finch-Fletchley) so Draco knows, so there’s no reason to think that Narcissa and Lucius don’t know also, because Draco would definitely have told them about that. But so far only Draco has heard Harry do it in person.

StarLight Massacre. X
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The Guile and Devotion of a Black Heir