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Rise of the Dark Angel	By : isabel88 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 61368 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 12
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does, as such, I am NOT making any money off of this....

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Title: Rise of the Dark Angel

Author: Izzby09

Beta Reader/Co-Author: Tonks-is-cool.

Chapter: 6: Revelations

Settings: AU after OOTP: It's canon up to the beginning of the battle at the DOM when they are in the veil room, after that, it's AU and mine.

Pairings: HP/DM; LV/SS; LM/RL; FG/Surprise; NL(CL)/LL; RL/BL

Warnings: This story will contain mentions of Violence, Child Abuse, Alcohol Use, Adult Language, Slash/Het Sexual situations. Please discontinue reading if such scenes or themes are offensive to you.

A/N: the timeline is a bit off than that of HBP, and I apologize, but it needed to be done for the purpose of this story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing…if I did, Ginny would have died in the CoS, Dumbledore would have choked on his lemon drops and Harry would have stood up for himself against Molly and Dumbledore.

Disclaimer 2: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Letter or commentary/introduction

{Parssseltongue}

~…~ indicates scene change

Last time on RDA:

Hedwig trilled, the musical tones carried her magic and allowed it to flare throughout the room. It relaxed the others and encompassed Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan and Neville. The four stood still as the magic washed over them. A bright light slowly spilled from them and fill the room. It disappeared just minutes later, leaving everyone blinking slowly. Hedwig let out a satisfied trill before she settled down on Harry’s shoulder.

The occupants of the room could only stare at the four in shock. Before anything could be said, the LeStranges turned as one to look at Neville and Bellatrix took a hesitant step forward.

"My son."

To say the others were shocked was an understatement. It was so silent you could’ve heard a pin drop. Their gazes kept shifting between Neville and the LeStranges. Voldemort sat silently on his chair, observing the scene, his eyes narrowed in calculation.

Harry’s gaze ran over Bellatrix and the two beside her. Looking at her, with her curly dark hair, the resemblance between her and Sirius was uncanny. Her face no longer looked pale and gaunt, but rather had developed a healthy flush. Her cheekbones were no longer skinny and sunk in, but slightly full and the crazed look that was normally present in her light blue eyes had diminished significantly. Rodolphus didn’t look much different except for the healthier look to his face and body. His face didn’t look haunted, his dark brown eyes were lighter and his body was more pronounced. The same was for Rabastan as well. He wasn’t as muscled as his brother, much thinner, but his body had filled out healthier as well. His brown eyes held a hint of mischief and darkness in it.

Neville though was the shock. His looks had changed completely. He was still tall, but his hair, which was short before, now fell to his shoulders and it held the same curls that Bellatrix’s did. His eyes had turned from dark brown to light brown. His lips and smile were similar to Rodolphus’ as was his body structure. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Bella’s words were true.

"What?" Well…maybe one. Neville’s eyes were wide as he looked at Bellatrix; he didn´t know how he looked.

"My son." Tears filled Bella’s eyes as she looked at Neville. "My beautiful baby boy."

"Cory?" Rodolphus said as he too took a step forward. "My Cory?"

"I may have misheard," Lucius said, "but, did you just call him your son?"

"I did," Bellatrix said as she kept her eyes on Neville. "He is my son."

"Perhaps explanations are in order," Voldemort said. "Harry?"

"A while back," Harry started after looking at his friend and brother to see that he was still in shock. "Nev told me about this dream he had. We tried to figure out what it meant, but we couldn’t. Then Hedwig told me about the magic she felt in his mind and she admitted that she was the reason he had had the dream in the first place as she had used some of her magic on him.

"When she told me that, I suspected that maybe his dream wasn’t a dream but rather a memory. And with everything I knew about what happened to the Longbottoms, my suspicions rose on who the people in the dream were. Then Hedwig came in here and she told me she felt the same magic on the three LeStranges and that’s when I knew."

"Harry," Remus looked at him. "Are you saying that Neville is not a Longbottom but is actually a LeStrange?"

"Yes," Harry nodded. "Let Moony smell and you’ll see."

Remus nodded before he did as he was told. He sniffed the air, smelling the scent of his cub and the scent coming from Lucius before he focused on the LeStranges. He picked up on the familial scent between Rodolphus and Rabastan, the mated scent between Rodolphus and Bellatrix before he picked up on the new scent. He sniffed at Neville and found that he smelled similar like both Bella and Rodolphus.

"It’s true," Remus said.

"You’re my parents?" Neville looked between Bellatrix and Rodolphus. "But how? I don’t understand. You can’t be my parents. Frank and Alice Longbottom are my parents."

"No they’re not," Rabastan shook his head. He was still feeling a little woozy from the memory block that had been placed on him.

"Explain," Neville said.

"Frank and Alice were pregnant," Rodolphus said. "But they lost the baby. Bella was pregnant with our son. A month before he turned a year, he was kidnapped. We looked for him everywhere, but we couldn’t get any leads. But then, one day Pettigrew mentioned seeing a baby boy with the Longbottoms. It confused him because he didn’t know they had kids."

"That’s when we knew," Rabastan picked up, as it seemed that Bellatrix was too busy staring at Neville to answer. "A few days after that Halloween night when our Lord mysteriously vanished, we went after the Longbottoms, together with Barty. Because they were Aurors and in Dumbledore’s Order, it was probably that they had some inside information about what had really happened to our Lord. Secondly, we wanted to question them about the baby boy.

“We wanted to get our son back. They admitted everything when we got there, but they refused to give you up. They said people like us didn’t deserve to have kids when she couldn’t have any. They repeated what Dumbledore had publically declared, that our Lord vanished from the Potters house. He was gone, no bodies found but the Potters, their son alive by a miracle."

"We fought," Rodolphus continued. "You were crying through it all and Bella managed to get a hold of you. The moment she did, you quieted down as if you knew that your real mother was holding you. Bella then went and cast the Cruciatus Curse on Alice for taking you in the first place. And Ras and I did the same to Frank."

"We were about to leave," Bellatrix spoke instead. "But then Dumbledore showed up and said he couldn’t allow us to take to you. He threw a curse at me, not even caring that I had my baby in my arms. I did the only thing I could; I turned quickly and place you in the crib. The three of us tried to fight him off, but as strong as we were, we were no match for him."

"The last thing I remember," Rabastan said, "is hearing him saying a spell; after that, the only thing I could remember was that we were there to torture them. Suddenly several Aurors stormed into the house and arrested us. "

"But how did that work?" Remus asked. "Did none of the other followers know you were pregnant?"

"No," Bellatrix shook her head. "It was a war; and our Lord had just gained a few followers, some of whom had to prove themselves to be trustworthy. And also because we had thought that allowing others to know would place the baby in danger from the light side and our Lord would stop us from helping him. So we kept it a secret."

"But somehow," Harry said, "the Old Fool found out."

"Yes," the three said as one.

"Neville?" Harry turned to look at his friend.

"I…I’m sorry," Neville said as he backed away. "I can’t…I just can’t….not now." With that, he turned, bowed quickly toward Voldemort and hurried out of the room. Harry looked at Hedwig and she disappeared after him.

"Well that went well," Harry chuckled.

"I wouldn’t worry," Luna said. "You will have your son back."

"That disgusting, low-life, meddlesome fool of a man! How dare he do this to me?! The bastard took my son from me," Bellatrix let out a screech of rage as her power rolled off her. She tried to take a few calming breaths but she couldn’t and she let out a growl as her eyes filled with anger when she thought once more on what happened. "Albus Dumbledore will regret the day he fucked with my family."

Her words were a vow and the glint in her eyes was determination mixed with madness.

In the Headmaster’s office in Hogwarts, Albus shivered as he once again felt the icy fingers of Death travel up and down his spine.

~…~

It’s been a few days since the LeStrange revelation and things were slightly strained. It was obvious that Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan were desperate to talk with Neville, but said teen was avoiding them. It was not that he didn’t want to talk to them, it was just everything had overwhelmed him and he needed time to think things through. After he had left the room, he had gone directly back to Potter Manor, where he spent the last few days brooding, working randomly in the Greenhouse.

Harry and Luna had explained everything to the others, who were shocked at the news. Draco was shocked because he realized that Neville was actually his cousin. Luna had told them that Neville would need time to sort through things, so they had agreed to leave him to himself until he was ready to talk.

Neville was working in the Greenhouse, trying to get his mind off what he had learned, but he couldn’t. His mind refused to concentrate on the task at hand. Instead, his thoughts kept drifting back to the LeStranges.

"Thinking too hard?" a voice interrupted him. He looked over and saw Harry and Luna standing at the door.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I just don’t know what to do, you know? I mean, I was just told that I’ve been lied to my entire life. The people who I thought were my parents were actually my kidnappers and the people who I thought were psychotic murderers are actually my parents."

"It is a lot to take in," Luna said as she walked over to her boyfriend. "But you don’t have to handle it alone. We’re here for you and you’re not the only confused on things everything either."

He turned to look at her before he turned to look at Harry.

"Bella and the others are just as confused as you," Harry said. "For the past fifteen years they believed that they didn’t have a son and then they found out that they did have a child and said child was raised by their enemies. They want to get to know you, but they’re not pushing you."

"He’s right," Luna smiled. "I daresay the Dark Lord is growing quite tiresome of Bella ruining his carpet."

"What?" Neville looked between the two of them.

"She’s been pacing a lot," Harry chuckled. "She’s worried you aren’t going to want to have anything to do with her."

"She is?" Neville’s eyes went wide in disbelief; he couldn’t picture the woman doing something so mundane and normal.

"Yeah," Luna and Harry nodded.

"Whatever questions or concerns you have," Luna said, "she, as well as your father and uncle, has them as well. You can talk with each other and get through this. You’ve wanted parents and now you have them."

"She’s right you know?" Harry said. "Just talk with them and if you’re still unsure, tell them that you want to take things slow."

"You’re right," Neville said after a moment of silence. "That’s all I’ve been thinking about, you know? I couldn’t get over that I am their child and that the Longbottoms and Dumbledore stole me. But then on the other hand, everything else makes sense; I mean, now I know why grand…I mean, Lady Longbottom, kept giving me those looks and snide remarks. She knew."

"I’d reckon so," Harry nodded. "Talk to them Nev; you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain."

"And Harry," Luna said. "I think it’s time Moony and Remus were one. That book you had should help wonders, especially with explaining a few feelings of his."

"I thought so too," Harry smiled at the girl he called his sister. "I was actually planning on talking to him after I talked to Nev here."

"I do believe he is at Malfoy Manor," Luna smiled at her brother. "So is everyone else."

"The twins?" Harry asked.

"Diagon Alley," Luna answered as the three walked towards the door of the Greenhouse. "They found a building that will suit their needs."

"Good," Harry nodded. "Hedwig?"

Said bird flashed into the room.

"Hi girl," Harry cooed at her while Neville and Luna moved to pet her. "Can you take us to Malfoy Manor? I need to talk with Remus and Nev needs to talk with Bella and the other two."

Hedwig trilled as she nipped Harry’s ear in affection.

"Thank you," Harry smiled at her. "Let’s go guys."

Neville and Luna grabbed Harry’s hand and the three flashed out. They startled Lucius and the others when they flashed into the room.

"Hello," Harry said. "Remus, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure cub," Remus nodded as he got up and the two left the room.

"Uhm," Neville said as he looked at the others. "I’m ready to talk now."

"Wonderful," Bellatrix smiled as did Rodolphus and Rabastan.

"You can use the study next to the foyer," Lucius offered up.

"Thank you," Neville nodded and the four of them walked out the door.

~…~

When they entered the study, Neville started pacing while the other three sat in the chairs.

"I don’t know where to start," he sighed as he dropped into the seat across from Bellatrix.

"Neither do us," Rabastan gestured to the three of them. "We’ve been living with the memory that you didn’t exist and now we found out that you do exist and you were stolen from us."

"I just don’t get why they would do that," Neville said. "How could the leader of the Light, steal a child from its parents?"

"Dumbledore is manipulative," Rodolphus said. "Possibly more so than our Lord; he is also meddling and believes that everything he does is for the greater good."

"I know you’re probably hesitating because you’ve spent the past fifteen years fearing me," Bellatrix spoke and Neville looked at her. He was slightly shocked to see fear in her eyes; it was something he never thought he’d ever see on her.

"But is it possible to at least try and get to know each other?" Bellatrix continued. She was beyond pissed at Dumbledore and what he had done to her family. She had lost fifteen years with her son and had no way to get them back.

"I talked to Harry and Luna," Neville spoke. "And they explained things to me. They told me that I finally have a chance at having the parents I so desperately wanted. I’m not saying that it’s gonna be easy, but I’m willing to give it a try."

"Thank you," Rodolphus breathed.

"Can I ask what name you gave me?" Neville looked at them. "You called me Cory earlier, so I assume it’s a nickname."

"It is," Rabastan nodded. "Your name is Corvus Rudolpho LeStrange."

"But we called you Cory," Rodolphus smiled at his son.

"Cory, huh?" Neville had a thoughtful look on his face for a split second before he smiled. "I like it."

Bellatrix let out a squeal before she launched herself out of her seat and grabbed Neville in a hug.

"My little Cory," she giggled as she hugged him tight. Neville turned wide eyes to the other two and they shared a look before they joined in the hug.

"Our family is back together," Rodolphus smiled.

"No one will break us apart ever again," Rabastan said.

"If anyone tries," Bellatrix added and her voice held the maniacal tone that she was known for. "I will torture them."

"And I’ll help," Neville said and the three adults looked at him in shock. "Hey, I just got you guys back. No way will I let anyone tear us apart." He paused before he blinked slowly and smiled at them. "I’m getting used to this a lot faster than I thought."

"You are my son," Bellatrix laughed and so did the others.

~…~

"What do you want to talk about cub?" Remus asked Harry as the two walked through the Malfoy Garden.

"About Moony," Harry said. "And you."

"What about him and me?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

"I found a book in the library," Harry said. "It talked about werewolves and the transformation process. Did you know that the Wolfsbane Potion is poison to a werewolf?"

"What?" Remus stopped suddenly and looked at his godson. "What are you talking about? The Wolfsbane Potion helps with the transformations. It prevents Moony from going wild."

"Remus," Harry turned to look at him. "Moony is a wild animal. Werewolves are wild animals; just like wolves. The only thing that can tame a wolf, or in this case a werewolf, is its mate and its cubs."

"Harry," Remus said. "I have to take the potion. I refuse to allow myself to attack someone I care about."

"You won’t," Harry said. "Remus, Moony sees me as his cub, so he can’t and won’t hurt me. But you’re hurting yourself by taking the potion."

"How do you mean?" Remus asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Since I’ve met you," Harry started to explain. "You’ve said you hated your wolf side. You feared your transformations and the nights of the full moon. You also take a potion that suppresses the instinctual and wild side of the wolf. I’ve seen pictures of werewolves and they look nothing like Moony does.

"They’re healthier looking; they have a full coat, they actually have meat on their bones. They look similar to wolves only their bodies are bigger. That’s not how Moony looks. Remus, you have to stop hating the wolf inside of you. You have to accept that he is a part of you. I know that you were scared because the Wizarding World refused to accept you and decided to shun you and all that added to your hatred, but you truly have to let it go. Your hatred of the wolf kept you from me for most of my life. Accept the wolf Remy, please, accept it."

By the time he was finished, Harry’s expression had gone from determined to pleading.

Remus for his part was quiet as he listened to his cub. Everything that Harry had just said had hit home and had struck a chord inside of him. His thoughts went over his entire life and he realized that Harry spoke the truth; he did hate his wolf, or rather, he used to. It wasn’t until Sirius’ death that he had started listening to Moony more and more. Werewolves were dark creatures; he knew that. It was the reason Moony grew even closer to Harry, because he had sensed the darkness in him when Harry was thirteen. Even then, Remus had refused to listen because he still hated that part of him.

But now, Harry was giving him a chance at a better life.

‘Could I really do it? I’ve spent almost all of my life hating being what I am…I can’t just change, can I? -And why not? Our cub did.- Moony. -It’s about time human. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I can’t believe it took our cub for you to finally see what I’ve been trying to tell you all these years.- I’m sorry. It was hard for me to accept it. I was shunned everywhere I went, so of course I hated you. -But now you don’t have to. Our cub accepts you…both parts of you, and you’re finally on the side that appreciates us. It is time to end this human. Let go of your past and embrace your future…our future.-

Remus looked up and saw that Harry was watching him closely. "You’re right you know? I’ve spent so much time hating the wolf. I blamed him for not being able to be with you or have a good life."

"And now?" Harry asked.

"I don’t blame him anymore," Remus admitted. "And truth be told, I stopped hating him ever since Siri died. I actually listened to him and that’s why I started being suspicious of Dumbledore and now I know my suspicions were right. It wasn’t Moony that prevented me from being with you; it was all Dumbledore, but no more. I guess what I’m saying is, I’m willing to try and merge with Moony."

"I’m glad," Harry said and the smile on his face was full of relief. "I want you around Remus, and this is a way to ensure that."

Remus looked at him; in that moment, he wasn’t looking at the powerful, determined wizard that he was, but at the shy fifteen year old who was afraid of losing someone else.

"You have me convinced Harry," Remus pulled him into a hug. "I don’t want to lose you and I don’t want you to lose me either. What do I have to do?"

And so, Harry spent the rest of the afternoon talking with his godfather, explaining the process that he had found in the book. He did not notice Draco staring at him from a window above.

~…~

When Harry had left the room with Remus, Draco sighed before he got up and left as well. He turned in the opposite direction that they went to and headed to his room. He was unaware that his father had followed. He walked over to his window and looked down, spotting Harry and Remus talking in the gardens. His eyes travelled over Harry’s body, taking in the confidence that seemed to exude off him in waves. He watched the pleading expression on Harry’s face and the serious one on Remus’ and he wondered as to what the two were talking about. He looked away and turned around when he heard his door open.

"Father," he nodded before he turned his gaze back to the gardens and Harry.

"Draco," Lucius said as he closed the door behind him and walked further into the room. He walked over to the bed and took a seat on it. "Is something the matter?"

Draco was quiet as he thought on his father’s question. His eyes drifted back to Harry before he let out a sigh. He turned to his father and the open expression on his face had Lucius gasping softly. His son was letting himself be vulnerable by showing his emotions.

"Talk to me Draco," Lucius implored. To outsiders it might seem as if he and his son didn’t have that good of a relationship, but that couldn’t be further than the truth. He may portray the cold, aloof, impeccable persona in public, but in the privacy of his home, he was a good father to his son. Their relationship was one that was envied by Narcissa as Draco had taken more to him than his mother.

"Everything seems so confusing," Draco finally started after another moment of silence. "I don’t know what to feel. I like the fact that he’s after me so, but I can’t help but wonder why or rather how?"

"How what Draco?" Lucius raised a sculpted eyebrow. "Do you think that Mr. Potter’s attraction to you is sudden and because of his new allegiance to the Dark Lord or do you believe that that is the cause for your own attraction?"

"My attraction to him has nothing to do with his coming over to our side," Draco turned to look at his father. "I came to terms with my feelings for him since my third year. However, his feelings for me leave me feeling…"

"My son," Lucius started. "I may not know Mr. Potter well, though I do hope that will change in the future, but from what I do know of him, is that when he puts his mind to something, he accomplishes it and his feelings on matters that are important to him are true. Answer me this, can you honestly say that Potter’s feelings or attraction is due only to his allegiance to the Lord?"

After a few minutes, Draco shook his head slowly. "I can’t say that."

"He cares for you Draco," Lucius said. "The allegiance to the Dark Lord has nothing to do with it. I rather believe if it comes down to it, he would abandon the Lord if you asked him to."

"What?" Draco raised shocked eyes to his father. "That’s preposterous."

"Is it?" Lucius drawled. "He as much gave me fair warning that he would destroy me if I ever did anything to hurt you; the same warning goes out to everyone, including our Lord."

"He told you that?" Draco’s cheeks flushed pink.

"I’ve seen the way he acts and looks at you Draco," Lucius continued. "It is more than lust; he looks at you with love and devotion."

When Draco heard that, he couldn’t stop the pleased look that came in his eyes or the surge of relief that coursed through his body.

"And therein lies the crux of the matter," Lucius said when he saw the look in his son’s eyes. "You were worried that it was just lust or a passing fancy."

"Yes," Draco admitted. "He could have anyone he wanted, and I couldn’t understand why he chose me."

"Be happy that he did choose you," Lucius said.

"I am," Draco assured his father.

"Then why do you insist on blocking his every attempt to be with you?" Lucius asked.

"I’m not blocking his attempts," Draco denied. "Harry and I are always at war with each other and this is no different. I get jealous if his attention is on anyone else except me. If I gave into him so quickly, it wouldn’t be right. I did have doubts, but you cleared them up for me. I now know how he truly feels for me, but father you have to understand. I’m not blocking him, but I’m not stopping him either because a part of me wants him to prove his feelings; a part of me wants him to show that he truly loves me and that I’m the only one he wants."

Lucius was quiet as he listened to his son. He could understand why Draco was feeling the way he was and he admitted to himself that he would have acted the same. He got up from the bed and went to stand next to his son. He looked out the window and his gaze was drawn to where Harry and Remus stood. Instead of staying on Harry, he found himself looking at Remus.

There was something about the wolf that drew him in. He was man enough to admit that it was something that he had felt since they were in school, but because of whom he was and who Remus was, along with family obligations, nothing could be done. With everything that had happened with Narcissa, he had to keep up his façade, which was to bury his feelings and do what was needed of him. He had known that nothing could ever happen between them because they were on opposite sides of the war, but now, that wasn’t the case.

With Remus now on their side, his feelings were rising once more and he did not know if he could or wanted to stop them.

"Father?" Draco looked at his father questioningly. His father’s eyes held a longing in them and he followed his gaze to where Harry and Remus were. Understanding flitted through his eyes after a few minutes. "Perhaps we can both get what we want. After all, what a Malfoy wants, a Malfoy gets."

“Perhaps,” Lucius nodded in agreement to his son’s words. “However, there is still the matter of your mother to deal with.”

Draco looked at his father before looking away. He had not thought of his mother, not since a few days after the will reading.

Flashback

Narcissa was fuming as she made her way through the halls of the Manor. She was angry with her cousin for what he left to her and she was also angry at her son for what he got. She couldn’t believe Sirius had left so much money to Draco when they didn’t even know each other.

The will reading had been a few days ago and she hadn’t seen hide or hair of her son since. She had no idea where he was or what he was doing and her only consolation was that Lucius was having important meetings and hadn’t noticed the absence of his heir.

She was about to go past the stairs to the foyer when she heard the Floo acting up. She paused and waited, only to see her son walking out of the study.

“Mother,” Draco stopped when he saw his mother standing there.

“Draco,” Narcissa spoke between clenched teeth. “I would like to speak with you son.”

“Is it important?” Draco asked as he resumed walking. “There is someplace I have to be.” He was going back to Harry’s.

“Yes,” Narcissa inclined her head. “It is important.”

“Alright,” Draco nodded as he continued on to his room. He opened the door and stepped inside. His mother followed him, pushing the door close behind her, only it didn’t close completely.

Draco walked over to his closet and opened the doors; he started going through them, throwing specifics onto his bed as he spoke to his mother. “Well? What is it that you needed to speak with me about mother?”

“I don’t understand,” Narcissa spoke and the rage inside of her had her teeth clenching as she gripped her handkerchief between her hands until her knuckles turned white.

“Understand what?” Draco asked as he kept looking through his closet.

“I don’t understand why you received anything at all!” she hissed.

Draco stiffened as the words left his mother’s mouth and he slowly turned to face her, his eyes narrowed and his face closed down into an unreadable mask.

“What exactly is that supposed to mean mother?” his voice was devoid of emotion.

“What did Sirius mean when he said he knew your secret?” Narcissa ignored her son’s questions and asked another. “What are you hiding Draco and how is it that he knows?”

“My secret is mine alone,” Draco answered. “It has nothing to do with you. And as to why I received anything from Sirius, it ties into the secret, but from what I understood, it was because of the way I acted.”

“You’ve acted like a Malfoy,” Narcissa said. “And from my memory, Sirius hated the Malfoys.”

“I’m not surprised you have no idea,” Draco turned his back on his mother and turned back to his closet.

“Draco,” Narcissa’s voice took on a warning tone.

“No mother,” Draco’s voice overrode her’s. “The point on the matter is that Sirius left me something and it angers you that he left nothing for you. By your words alone, you cannot fathom an idea as to why he would do that and I am not willing to tell you.”

He closed his closest and grabbed his trunk to put his clothes in. He was just finishing up and about to close the trunk, when his mother stepped to him.

“Draco,” Narcissa looked at her son. “I am your mother and as such, I think I deserve to know what it is that Sirius knew about you.”

“My mother? My mother?” Draco turned hard eyes to look at her. “You haven’t been my mother since I was four, which happened to be the last time you allowed me to call you “mummy”. You’ve treated me like I was nothing. You’ve hated the fact I was close to father and instead of even trying, you distanced yourself from me.

“Now you want to know what it is that Sirius’ knows. No, you have no right to try and be a mother after all this time; just like you have no right to know what it is you want to know. I have nothing more to say to you.”

He turned away from her and grabbed his wand to shrink his trunk before putting it in his pocket. He turned to walk out when his mother grabbed his arm.

“Don’t turn away from me,” Narcissa hissed.

“I have nothing else to say to you,” Draco pulled his hand from her arm and turned to look at her.

“You are my son!” she snarled at him. “You do not turn away from me and you do not speak to me like that!”

“I have to go,” Draco said and he turned to walk away once more.

“I am not through talking with you yet Draco,” Narcissa said.

“What more is there to say?” Draco asked. “I don’t want to talk with you. I have nothing to say.”

“You will listen!”

“No,” Draco shook his head. “I’m almost sixteen. I do not have to listen to a thing you want to say.”

“I’m your mother!” Narcissa’s eyes glowed with anger.

“A cold-hearted bitch like you is not my mother,” Draco scoffed.

SMACK!

Draco’s head flew to the side from the force of the slap Narcissa just gave to him.

“Draco,” Narcissa’s hand flew to her mouth.

“What is going on here?” a silky voice drawled from the doorway.

Narcissa looked behind her and saw Lucius standing there.

“I was just leaving,” Draco said and he turned towards his door. “Father.”

End Flashback

“I do not think I have ever been as angry with your mother as I was that day,” Lucius said. “I may have been tough on you Draco, but I would never hit you.”

“I know father,” Draco nodded. “What do you plan to do about her?”

“I’ve been thinking about consulting my solicitor on separation options,” Lucius said.

“Why not just divorce her?” Draco raised an eyebrow at his father. “I know it is not usually done in the Wizarding World, but father, it is an option that you should consider. However, if you feel that it will do more harm than good, then I’m sure there must be some way our ancestors had of getting out of a marriage they no longer wanted.”

Lucius looked at his son in pride. His son sounded so mature and grown up and he looked it as well; his son was carrying on the Malfoy name very well.

“You are right of course,” Lucius nodded. “Even if I choose not to have a divorce, I can have Narcissa’s access to anything Malfoy-related denied. However, I do believe the divorce would be better; it might actually help me and in turn help our Lord.”

“How so?” Draco asked.

“I need to think things through,” Lucius said. “I will let you know what I have decided.”

“Alright,” Draco nodded.

“Do not despair Draco,” Lucius said to his son. “Things will work out for you.”

“As will you father,” Draco said.

Lucius nodded before he left the bedroom. Draco stared at the door for a second before he moved to look out the window again; he sighed when he saw that Harry and Remus had gone.

~…~

Snape was sitting in the library when the fireplace activated and flared green, letting him know someone was Flooing through. He knew it required a specific password to Floo to the library and only a specific set of people knew it, so he focused his gaze on the book.

“Hello Snape.”

He looked up and saw the twins standing there.

“Good morning,” Snape replied. “Is everything alright?”

“Better than alright,” Fred grinned.

“We found a place for our business,” George continued.

“And we need to talk to our dark-haired little brother about it,” Fred finished.

“Harry I presume?” Snape asked.

“Yes,” Fred and George nodded.

“If I may be so bold,” Snape started.

“About?” Fred asked.

“Your feelings on everything that has happened thus far,” Snape elaborated. “It’s been weeks since your defection and I was curious as to how you were truly feeling about everything. I must say I find it a little hard to believe your quick divergence of sides and the way you were calm with the torturing of Gibbons.”

“Most people look at us and see the jokesters that we portray,” George said as his face morphed into a serious expression. “But Harry didn’t. During his first year, after we had pulled a prank, he came to us.”

“He said he liked what we did,” Fred picked up, “said it took someone who could gain immense pleasure from causing pain and humiliation to someone else to do what we did; it was just the touch of darkness and he liked that. He also said that at the same time he admired the fact that we could keep a balance, that we did not take our pranks too far and that we carefully considered how to prank whom.”

Severus raised an eyebrow at this. His own past with the Marauders had left a very bad impression of Gryffindor pranksters in his mind. The Marauders had never known when to stop; they would mercilessly torture someone who already was lying on the ground, for no other reason that they could, that they usually were four to one.

That the first year Harry should have been able to see past the front of the twins, that he already differentiated between levels of pranks, was hard to fathom. Well, Severus thought, perhaps not so impossible, if he considered what he had learned about Harry´s real character this summer.

“At first we didn’t believe him,” George continued. “I mean, he was the Gryffindor Golden Boy, the Saviour of the Wizarding World and all that other crap that people labelled on him; so we decided to watch him, but he didn’t do anything, so we dismissed what he said. It wasn’t until third year, that he approached us again and that’s when we knew.”

“Knew what, pray tell?” Snape raised an eyebrow.

“That he was very dark,” Fred shrugged. “It confused us of course; the Boy-Who-Lived dark?”

“He took us aside and explained a few things to us,” George said. “We were touched that he told us, so we kept his secrets and let him in on some of our plans.”

“After everything that happened with our parents and Dumbledore, we chose his side permanently,” Fred said with a sneer on the words parents and Dumbledore.

“And the torturing?” Snape asked.

“Like we said,” George grinned. “Pranks are designed for the humiliation of others, after that, it was only a step up.”

“We completely enjoyed what happened to Gibbons,” Fred grinned as well. “We don’t mind torturing. If the Dark Lord decided to use us as mercenaries or whatnot, we have no problems.”

“Interesting,” Snape drawled. “You do know he placed Harry under the Cruciatus curse?”

“Yes,” the twins lost their grins.

“Harry explained to us why it happened,” Fred continued. “Just because we don’t have the mark, doesn’t mean we still don’t answer to him. We chose to be on this side and that means that the Dark Lord is our boss.”

“We also know that Harry may be closer to him than any of us,” George said. “And we don’t mind that either. Harry told us he had been out of line and that the Dark Lord reminded him that he was the boss and we all answered to him, including Harry; but even then he said, the Dark Lord didn’t hold him under the curse for too long.”

“We understand our choices and the consequences of those choices,” Fred said. “But, we meant it when we said we would stand by Harry no matter what.”

Snape was quiet after Fred was finished, his mind running back over everything they said. After a moment of thinking, he looked at them.

“Very well then,” he nodded. “I only asked because I honestly was curious as to your thoughts and feelings on everything.”

“We know,” George nodded.

“And we understand,” Fred added. “Nothing is going to make us go back to those people. We’re dark, and that’s where we’re going to stay.”

“Good,” Snape nodded as he picked up the book he had put down when he had started talking to them. “I last saw Harry heading out to the gardens with Remus.”

“Thank you,” the twins said as one before they turned to walk out the library. Just after the door closed behind them, a figure moved from his hiding place in the shadows and came to stand next to Snape’s chair; it was Voldemort.

“It is good to get their true views on everything,” he mused.

“I thought so my Lord,” Snape nodded.

“Their loyalty to him is commendable,” Voldemort continued. “What little doubts I may have had about their loyalty to me has been amended.”

“I am glad to hear that my Lord,” Snape said. Being in his Lord’s presence was causing his body to react and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stop it before the man found out or to allow him to find out.

“Severus,” Voldemort moved to stand in front of his follower.

“My Lord?” Snape looked up at his master before slowly moving to his feet, bringing him to stand mere feet away from Voldemort.

Voldemort said nothing as he reached out to touch Snape’s cheek. His palm cupped the cheek while his thumb grazed his lips. Snape lifted startled eyes to him and Voldemort smirked at the look in them; it was lust and another emotion.

“I find myself feeling things for you Severus,” Voldemort spoke and his voice was soft with a hint of a hypnotizing sound to it. “Things I have never felt for anyone else. You have been the only one that have ever made me feel guilt and it is an emotion I do not enjoy feeling.”

“I am sorry my Lord,” Snape murmured. His breathing was starting to pick up as he saw the lust in his master’s eyes; a lust that had awakened the answering desire in himself.

“Oh no,” Voldemort shook his head even as he placed an arm around Snape’s waist to draw him closer. He leaned down and pressed his nose to Snape’s neck, inhaling slightly, revelling in the scent of his potions master. He pulled back to look Snape in his eyes. “Your apology is not what I want.”

“What…what do you want?” Snape asked; his voice was slightly hesitant with a husky undertone.

“You,” Voldemort said before he did what he had wanted to do for a while; he kissed him. He tightened his arms around Snape as he pulled him flush against his body, revelling in the moan that he pulled from the man´s throat.

Snape couldn’t help the needy moan that escaped his lips as he felt Voldemort’s hands trail down his body to cup his ass through his robes. His hands clutched at his shoulder before he slowly raised them to wrap around the Dark Lord’s neck. He angled his head and opened his mouth when he felt the probing tongue against his lips. He whimpered at the feral growl that escaped the Dark Lord and tightened his arms around his neck while his lower body started a slow grind against his master.

Voldemort held Snape tight to him and moved until Snape was leaning against a bookshelf. He released his lips and trailed a path down Snape’s neck, making the man throw his head back in pure pleasure. His hand weren’t idle as they travelled down Snape’s body and with a flick, the robes were gone, leaving him with an easier access to the body he so desired. He slipped his hand in Snape’s pants, wrapping it around the hardened cock. He hissed in pleasure as he felt the pre-cum leaking out and his eyes widened when he felt Snape buck into his hand and more pre-cum leaked out. He raised his eyes to look at Snape and groaned when he saw how flushed with desire his face was.

“Did you like that?” he whispered against his lips. He hissed again and was rewarded with another buck and moan.

“My…(moan)…Lord,” Snape pleaded as trembled in unadulterated pleasure. “Please.”

{Pleassse what?} Voldemort hissed as he squeezed the cock in his hand before he started moving it up and down, stroking Snape.

“Oh Salazar,” Snape panted out as he rutted against his master; he couldn’t believe just how wanton he was acting, but he couldn’t help it. The feelings that were coursing through him were too strong and in all honesty, he had no real desire to stop what was happening. He snapped his head forward and captured his Lord’s lips in a heated kiss.

Voldemort smirked against Snape’s lips; it seemed he had found a trigger button for his pleasure. He allowed him to control the kiss as he slid his thumb across the slit in Snape’s cock, causing said man to thrust into his hands with an increased speed. He pulled away from the kiss and slid his lips up to Snape’s ear.

{You ssshould sssee yourssself; ssso resssponsssive. I love the feel of your cock in my hand; the sssoundsss that I pull from you are ssso deliciousss}

Snape’s moans grew as he felt his balls tightening up and his cock grew even harder as it pulsed in his master’s hand. He could feel Voldemort’s cock against his thigh and it gave him a heady sense of pleasure to know he had caused that.

“Ssseverusss,” Voldemort’s voice was husky as he spoke Snape’s name and though it was in English, it sounded as if it was in Parseltongue and it sent shivers through Snape’s body. “The thought of burying my cock in that hot ass of yours…(groans)…I can’t wait to feel you around my cock…just the thought of fucking you…the thought of that heat around me…tell me what you want.”

“I want…(pants)…I want to cum with you inside of me,” Snape moaned out; Voldemort’s words were causing his need to build even more. “I want to feel you…I want to feel your cock fucking me.”

Voldemort let out a desire-filled growl before yanking his hand from Snape’s cock, drawing a whimper from him of the loss. With a flick of his hand, he banished Snape’s pants and underwear along with his own. His need for the man in front of him was too great for him to wait, so he quickly cast three spells in succession; a Cleansing Charm, Lubrication spell and a Stretching spell before he lifted Snape into the air, pressing his back into the bookshelf and allowing him to wrap his legs around his waist.

“Are you sure?” he panted through gritted teeth as he tried to control his body’s desire to slam himself into Snape; it was uncharacteristic of him to show such reluctance with a partner, but he was hesitant to hurt the man that was coming to mean a great deal to him.

Snape raised his desire-darkened onyx eyes to stare into Voldemort’s own before he spoke. “Fuck me my Lord, make me yours.”

Voldemort snarled before he captured Snape’s in a harsh kiss. He pressed the tip of his cock against Snape’s entrance and was about to thrust in to give them what they both wanted, when the doors of the library flew open.

“Severus, do you—

Both Snape and Voldemort pulled from each other and looked towards the disturbance and they saw Yaxley standing there. Voldemort turned around and hissed {Crucio}, his eyes glowing with anger; so displeased was he, that he didn’t realize he had cast the curse in Parseltongue.

Yaxley fell to the floor screaming; the spell was in Parseltongue and so, the pain it caused was more intense than the ones the Dark Lord cast in English.

Voldemort kept the spell on him for a minute before he lifted it. While the man lay curled up, sobbing and shaking on the floor, he released Severus and allowed him to stand on his feet. Then he flicked his wrist to summon his trousers back to him, a wave of his hand in front of him and he was again dressed impeccable.

“What is the meaning for this interruption?” he was enraged at the interruption, especially since he could hear Severus trying to get his breathing under control.

“My Lord,” Yaxley panted out as his body twitched from the after effects of the curse. “I have information for you.”

Voldemort cursed as his eyes narrowed on Yaxley, making him pale even more. “I shall join you in Lucius’ receiving room. Leave.”

“Yes my Lord,” Yaxley nodded as he moved shakily to his feet. He bowed before walking back out the library, closing the door behind him.

Voldemort sighed as he turned back to Snape, who avoided his gaze with his head bowed, the lank black hair obscuring his face like a curtain. He watched as Snape summoned his trousers and underwear to him and he knew the moment was ruined.

“Perhaps you should go to him my Lord,” Snape murmured as he dressed himself in seconds with a wave of his wand. He kept his gaze from his Lord. He still couldn’t believe what had almost happened and a part of him was worried as to just what he was to the Dark Lord.

Voldemort’s red eyes darkened in renewed rage at Yaxley, not only because of the tempting skin that was disappearing, but because he could sense the directions of Snape’s thoughts. He closed the distance between the two of them and grabbed Snape’s chin to tilt his face up to his.

“I will go,” Voldemort said. “Only because I know the information he has to relay is very important. However, know this: this is not over. I finally have what I want in my grasp and nothing will prevent me from claiming it. You are mine Severus.”

Snape looked at him. His dark eyes were swirling with lust and what looked to be hope. He smiled slightly at his Lord before leaning forward to kiss him quickly. “I am yours, as I hope you are mine.” He knew his words were bold, but he couldn’t help to seek some form of reassurance that he wasn’t just a bed mate to the Dark Lord, but something more.

“Impertinent whelp,” Voldemort smirked.

“Only yours my Lord,” Snape shook his head.

Voldemort smirked and he kissed Snape once more before leaving the library. Just as he got to the doors, he stopped. “You’re worry is unneeded Severus, for there is no one else I desire.” With that, he walked out.

Snape couldn’t help the small, yet no less genuine, smile that crossed his face as he watched his Lord leave. He moved to the couch and sat down slowly, his mind going over everything that had just happened between him and the Dark Lord. The smile built on his lips as he recalled the Dark Lord’s words just before he left the library. He knew that for the rest of the day, he would be hard-pressed to lose the good feeling he had. He turned back to the book he had been reading before the twins came in, when another caught his eyes. It was one of the potion books from Harry’s library, a book that Harry had translated into English with a spell he had found.

He picked it up and opened it; his eyes widened when he read the page he opened on and he gathered the rest of the books before he hurried out of the library, intending to go back home to the potions lab.

~…~

Hermione sighed as she sat down on her bed, her back to the headboard. It had been weeks since the will reading and things had been difficult. The Weasleys and Dumbledore were pissed about the contents of the will and what they had received, as was she. She still couldn’t understand how Sirius could say she was similar to Pettigrew, especially since she hadn’t done anything to warrant it.

She had done what the Headmaster had asked and had sent a letter to Harry, but the letter had returned unopened. She had become frustrated and had tried again, but she got the same results. She knew he was angry with them for their letters earlier in the summer, but she still expected him to reply to her letter.

“For all he knew,” she huffed. “I could’ve been apologizing for what I said. He shouldn’t have ignored me.” She paused and sighed before shifting more on the bed. “But then I suppose I would’ve ignored me too if I had did that. I’ll just have to find some other way to talk to him and get him to do what we want. It shouldn’t be too hard after all.”

She let out another sigh before getting up. She got dressed in a pair of jeans and a tank top, grabbed her wand from her dresser and headed downstairs.

“Mum, dad, I’m going over to Ron’s,” Hermione called out to her parents.

“How are you going to get there?” her mother asked as she walked out of the kitchen.

“I’ll call the Knight Bus,” Hermione shrugged.

“Alright,” her mother nodded. “I’ll let your father know when he comes back in.”

“Ok mum,” Hermione nodded. “I’m going to go now.”

“Bye honey,” her mother said before she walked back into the kitchen.

Hermione walked out the door and went down to the sidewalk. After making sure no one was looking, she held out her wand to summon the bus; seconds later, it showed up. The doors opened and both the driver and Stan turned towards her.

“Where to?”

“The Burrow,” she said as she got on. “Ottery St. Catchpole.”

“Eight sickles and hold on,” Stan said before the bus took off at its usual neck-breaking speed. Hermione quickly cast the Sticking Charm to keep her in her seat. Stan collected the fare, gave her a ticket and then went to the back of the bus. Before she knew it, the bus had wheezed past numerous fields and villages, chased a herd of bleating sheep across a down, jumped over the M5 – why there wasn’t a terrific traffic accident was truly a miracle – dipped into the River Otter for a second and was pulling up on the side of the dirt road leading to the Burrow. Hermione was quite glad that the rough ride was over so quickly. She said “Bye,” to the driver and got out.

She hurried up the walk, hearing Ron’s voice yelling. When she got there, she realized that he was talking with his mother, who was in the kitchen.

“Hello,” Hermione said when she was close enough for them to hear her.

“Hermione!” Ron whirled around when he heard her voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Is everything alright dear?” Mrs. Weasley called through the window.

“Everything’s fine Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione said. “I decided to come over as there was nothing much to do at my house and also, I wanted to speak with Ron.”

“Alright,” Mrs. Weasley nodded. “Have you had lunch as yet?”

“No,” Hermione shook her head.

“Well when you’re finished with Ron,” Mrs. Weasley said. “I’ll have some lunch ready for you both.”

“Thanks mum,” Ron said.

“Thanks Mrs. Weasley,” Hermione smiled before she turned to Ron. “Is everything ok Ron?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Any luck with him?”

“No,” Hermione sighed. “My letters keep coming back; you’d think he’d be a least bit interested to know what his godfather left for him.”

“He’s always been selfish,” Ron scowled. “It’s not fair that we didn’t get anything after all that we did for him and all the times he almost got us killed.”

“I know,” Hermione said as she laid her hand on his arm, “but don’t worry; we’ll get our dues.”

“We better,” Ron nodded. The two had no idea just how right the statements were and if they had any inclination as to what the dues would be, they wouldn’t have wished for them.

~…~

After Harry had talked to Remus, he had given him the book and told him to read it, knowing that the full moon was coming up in a few days…three days before his birthday, actually. He had wanted Remus to understand what it was he had to do and he thought it would be perfect to actually try it out when he would be most affected by the moon.

Now, he was walking through the hallways looking for the Dark Lord, as there was something important he needed to talk to him about. He headed down to the wing where the Dark Lord was staying. When he got to the door, he knocked three times.

“Enter.”

He opened and walked in and saw the Dark Lord sitting in his chair, Yaxley kneeling in front of him.

“Marvolo,” he bowed. “If I could have a word with you?”

“Yaxley,” Voldemort turned to the man. “You are dismissed.”

“Yes My Lord,” Yaxley stood up shakily and bowed before leaving the room.

“Now Harry,” Voldemort turned back to the teen.”What is it you need to speak with me about?”

“The prophecy,” Harry said.

“What about it?” Voldemort sat up straighter and narrowed his eyes at Harry before he gestured to the chair. “Sit.”

“Thanks. I think Marvolo,” Harry continued as he took the offered seat, “that we do not have to worry about either of us killing each other anytime soon, due to it.”

“Explain,” Voldemort said.

“The prophecy said that you vanquisher will be born as the seventh month dies, right?” Harry said. “What everyone failed to see was that no one had any way of being sure if it even referred to me.”

“How do you figure that?” Voldemort asked.

“The prophecy never gave a specific year,” Harry said. “It just so happened that two boys had been born that could fit it; if I recall, the prophecy was made after I was born, so they assumed that because I was born at the end of July, it meant I was the one to vanquish you.”

“Interesting,” Voldemort’s brows furrowed as he thought on what Harry had just said. “That is not all you have to tell me, is there?”

No,” Harry shook his head. “I’ve gone over the prophecy in my head and when I did, I figured out something.”

“What is it?”

“The prophecy is no longer in work,” Harry said.

“How?” Voldemort raised an eyebrow even as he leaned forward slightly.

“Earlier I said that we no longer have to worry about us killing each other,” Harry explained. “I was right; the reason being, the prophecy is already fulfilled.”

“What?” Voldemort could not keep the shock out of his voice.

“The prophecy said ‘…either must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survive…’; the way I see it, live and survive have two different meanings. You cast the killing curse on me, but I survived. Here we have the condition ‘die at the hand of the other’ described. The deadly curse was rebounded on you and you lost your powers, but didn´t die either. We both didn´t really die or live the next ten years, merely survived; you were a spirit drifting around Merlin knows where, I believe in Albania like Dumbledore said; while I was locked up at the Dursleys; hated, despised, neglected, starved, until I managed to instil fear in them.” Harry took a deep breath, looking sombrely into Voldemort´s red eyes.

“Back in my second year, when I killed the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, I met a young man, a Slytherin student named Tom,” Harry explained. “He told me that he was the past, present and future of you.”

“Impossible!” Voldemort stared at Harry, his face frozen in shock.

Harry continued, “He also said that he needed Ginny to die in order for him to live; in essence, he was merely surviving. I couldn’t live while the younger you survived, if that required my friends little sister murdered. Besides, he tried to kill me, so I killed him to survive myself.”

“The Chamber of Secrets?” Voldemort asked agitated. “You found it in your second year? It took me until my fifth year to manage that.”

“Yeah, the younger you mentioned that,” Harry nodded. “And like I said, I had to kill him and the Basilisk, which I truly didn’t want to do.”

Voldemort took a few deep breaths to reign in his confusion and mounting fury and then asked, “Do elaborate, Potter. Your story is completely inconceivable. You said that you met my younger self down there; you talked to him and then killed him and the Basilisk. Was my younger self really alive? Did you duel? Do you know why Tom was in the Chamber at all? How did he look? Was he corporal, could he touch you or this girl?”

Harry was wary of the anger burning in the eyes of the Dark Lord.

“Yes, I know, it sounds incredible, but it´s all true. See, during my second year, there were several attacks in the school, some muggleborns and a ghost got petrified. There was a message painted on a wall at Halloween, ‘The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware.’ Several times during that fall and winter I had heard a voice, a body less voice, saying cruel things, but nobody else could hear it, so I didn´t tell a teacher or Dumbledore about it,” said Harry.

Voldemort smirked. “Wise move, to keep that quiet. Did you tell your friends?”

Harry nodded, “Only Ron and Hermione, I told nobody else and them didn´t either. With more attacks, the students panicked, the teachers were helpless. There were rumours of course, about the legend of Slytherin´s Chamber of Secrets, a monster within and that the Chamber had been opened fifty years ago. We heard that from Draco Malfoy actually, but he said his dad refused to tell him more. We had thought that Draco was the heir, but he denied it vehemently. Said he didn´t know who it was; but that he would like to help the heir cleanse the school of the mudbloods.”

“Did he now? Interesting that Lucius didn´t tell him anything,” Voldemort mused. “Go on, Potter.”

“In December nearly everybody thought that I was the Heir of Slytherin and responsible for the attacks, because they found out I could talk to snakes. Those hypocritical idiots! One moment I was their saviour, the Boy-Who-Lived, the next moment a deranged, murderous dark wizard, who attacked muggleborns!” Harry fumed. Voldemort smirked.

“It took my friends and me until the end of May to figure it out,” Harry continued. “At first we thought that the monster was a giant spider, because diary Tom showed me a memory of him catching Hagrid fifty years ago.”

At this, Voldemort looked very interested. “Wait a moment, how did you come by my diary?”

“Oh, sorry, I didn´t mention that before? Well, end of January 1993 I found a little, thin black book, soaking wet, in Moaning Myrtle´s bathroom, that´s the first floor girl´s bathroom.”

Voldemort’s eyebrows rose up. “Indeed?”

“Yes, well I found this book, this journal of sorts, from 1942. On the first page was a name, T. M. Riddle. I took it because I hoped it could explain what was going on, that the previous owner had written something about the Chamber of Secrets. We thought this because fifty years ago the Chamber was opened the first time. But, the book seemed empty, the pages were blank.”

Harry smiled, and chuckled, “Ron remembered that name, T. M. Riddle; because he had had detention with Filch, polishing all those award shields and goblets in the trophy room. Ron said there was a T.M. Riddle award there, for special services to the school, fifty years ago. We speculated it might have something to do with the Chamber of Secrets. We discovered that Riddle had been Prefect and Head Boy.

“I didn´t discover until Valentine’s Day, that when the ink was absorbed into the pages, the diary could write back. Well, not the diary itself, but the person trapped inside, Tom Riddle. He said he was a memory, preserved in his diary. He somehow pulled me into the diary and showed me his memories about talking to the headmaster, Professor Dippet. I was so intrigued. Tom looked so good, about sixteen, very tall, pale skin, jet-black hair and dark eyes, clothed in an elegant Slytherin school robe. He was a Prefect, calm, polite, charming, handsome. He looked similar to me, only older and much better. He had a similar childhood, at a bloody muggle orphanage. He did not want to go back there, a wish I really could understand.”

Voldemort´s eyes widened. “He told you that?”

Harry looked at Voldemort, blushing.

“Yes, he kind of did, he let me see this memory. This is so wired, you are him, but so different. Anyway, after talking to Dippet, Tom left the office. Dippet had asked him the same question Dumbledore always asks me, if he ‘had to tell him anything.’“

Harry snorted and continued, “So memory Tom went down to the dungeons, hid and waited a very long time, until Hagrid showed up. He followed Hagrid to a cupboard door, where Hagrid let out the spider. Tom confronted him, said that it must end, that a girl had been killed, that the school would be closed if the culprit wasn´t found and that monsters didn´t make good pets. The spider ran away and I was thrown back out of the memory back into my dormitory. Whew. That diary was something, seriously wicked magic, Tom was so smart...” Harry blushed and smiled at Voldemort.

“You seem to have admired my younger self,” Voldemort commented.

“Yeah, I did at that time,” Harry answered and then said with a sad look, “I’m so sorry about what happened later, but I didn´t have a choice.”

“Killing the Basilisk and diary Tom, as you said? How did that happen? Where is the diary now?” Voldemort asked.

Harry sighed. “I´ll tell you in a moment, I´m getting there. So, after Valentine’s Day, I and my friends thought that the mystery was solved, that Hagrid was somehow responsible, although we did not want to believe this. I thought Tom was a friend, that he had told the truth. For a while, there were no more attacks. Then someone broke into my dorm and ransacked my things, everything was turned upside down. The diary was stolen, nothing else. Very strange. Sometime later, there was a new attack.

“A muggleborn, my friend Hermione and an older pureblood girl, a Ravenclaw Prefect, were petrified; now not only the muggleborns and halfbloods where in terror, but the purebloods too. They had thought themselves safe up to now. Fifty years ago, Hagrid was expelled, his wand broken; this time he was arrested by Minister Fudge and locked up in Azkaban as a scapegoat. They had no proof that Hagrid was responsible for the attacks, but it was so easy to blame him. At the same time Headmaster Dumbledore was suspended by the governors, led by Lucius Malfoy.”

Voldemort looked bemused, but still a bit impatiently. “Well, that is no surprise. But who stole the diary from you, did you find it again? What happened next?”

Harry sighed, again. “You know, the mood in the castle was really depressed. What should we do? Hermione lay petrified on a hospital bed. Now, Hagrid had given Ron and me a last minute hint, to look for spiders. Foolish, stupid, brave Gryffindors, we did look for spiders. They seemed to flee from the castle. One night, we followed them into the Forbidden Forrest,” Harry´s voice trailed off.

“Oh no,” Voldemort groaned, “you two, twelve year old boys, did not wander around the Forbidden Forrest at night. Haven´t you learned anything from your first year, when I nearly managed to kill you?”

“Oh yes, we did,” Harry answered. “Well, you can perhaps imagine what happened. We found the spiders, all right, big, giant, hungry Acromantulas. They caught us and brought us into their lair. There we met Aragog, the largest, oldest Acromantula, he is that same spider Hagrid had in that cupboard fifty years ago. He talked to us and explained some things.”

Voldemort looked at Harry and pinched the bridge of his nose, then shook his head in wonder. “How is it you are still alive? You should have died in that forest, you should have died ten times over with all your near death escapades. Your incredible luck must be that power I know not...”

Harry chuckled, “Yes, that might be it. Anyway, Ron and I escaped back to the castle, with new information. Hagrid was not the culprit, Aragog was not the monster from the Chamber of Secrets, but we still didn´t know who was responsible. We visited Hermione again and inspected her more closely than before. Her hand clutched at a scrap of paper with notes from a book. After reading it everything made sense, we had enough clues now.

“There was a giant snake, a Basilisk moving inside the pipes in the walls. It could kill with a look, but all the people petrified had seen it not directly, but through a reflection like from water, a camera, a ghost or a mirror, like Hermione. The entrance to the Chamber is in a bathroom of all places, the first floor girl´s bathroom, haunted by Moaning Myrtle. She was that student who was killed fifty years ago. But well, you do know all of this,” Harry said, looking intently at Voldemort, who raised an eyebrow.

“Well, what do you expect, my guilty conscience emerging? I do not regret my actions. Please, Myrtle was an irritating, snoopy mudblood nuisance, nothing more.”

“ Myrtle is so crass, but she did help us to put the clues together,” Harry muttered, lost in thought and looking to the side.

Voldemort made no comment, but waved his hand to indicate that Harry should continue.

“We were just about to approach the teachers and try to convince them that the monster was a Basilisk, when Ginny disappeared. There was a new message: ‘Her skeleton will rot in the Chamber forever’ or something like this. McGonagall said they now had to close the school after a student died and sent everybody to their dorms.” Harry pulled at his hair in agitation.

“You know, I was so desperate, I did not want to lose my only home, Hogwarts, and have to stay permanently at the Dursleys, if I could avoid it. Just the same as young Tom felt all those years ago, do you remember?” Voldemort scowled, but nodded.

“So I, like the good little Gryffindor hero I was, I decided to save Ginny myself. I went to Myrtle’s bathroom, opened the sink, and slid down to the Chamber with Ron and Lockhart as backup. He was our DADA teacher, a total fraud, a big mouthed fool with nothing behind it. He had no idea what really was going on. We had to force him along, he wanted to run away, especially after we found a huge, dry snake skin. While we were searching for the entrance to the Chamber, Lockhart attacked us, the roof of the tunnel caved in, he lost his memory and I went on alone. Ron and Lockhart stayed behind the rubble.”

Harry paused to catch his breath, this retelling of deeply buried events and emotions did strain him, his long forgotten fears and frustration bubbling up again. He was worried as to how Voldemort was going to react when he learned just how Harry had killed his younger self?

“Of course you went on alone, walking head on into mortal danger. What did you think you could do, a child against a Basilisk? Didn´t you have any self preservation?” Voldemort commented.

Harry shrugged and smiled. “Yes, that´s what I did, going in against all odds, typical Harry Potter. Hermione called it my ‘People saving thing’ in fifth year. The same pattern over and over again. Oh well, back then I really wanted to find Ginny and discover the Chamber, do what nobody else dared or was able to do, because I really wanted to stop the attacks so Hogwarts would stay open,” Harry huffed exasperated. “I didn´t want to play the hero for the sake of fame and glory, you know?”

Voldemort nodded again and leaned back, listening intently to Harry´s tale.

“I finally found the doors to the Chamber. They opened with the same word, just {Open}, very easy. There Ginny was lying on the wet floor, ice cold, barely alive. The diary lay beside her. Suddenly, there stood Tom. He looked just like in the memory, about sixteen, tall, handsome, pale skin, dark hair and eyes, clothed in a Slytherin school robe and uniform. He was more solid than any ghost I had seen before, a bit blurry, growing more corporal by the minute.”

“We talked. He told me all about Ginny. She had written in the diary for months, poured all her soul into it, told him of her crush on me and all of her stupid little girl´s troubles. Tom had listened patiently and somehow grown stronger, until he gained control of her over time. He said he poured a little bit of his soul into her, fed her a bit of his secrets,” Harry recounted the conversation.

Voldemort stared at him alarmed.

Harry spoke softly, lost in his memories, “Ginny had killed Hagrid´s roosters, opened the Chamber, set the Basilisk on people, and smeared the messages on the walls. Ginny had panicked and thrown the diary away. I found it. She stole it back, because she was so afraid Tom would tell me her secrets. Now Tom had forced her to go down into the Chamber, he was slowly draining her, so he could live again.

“That was quite a shock for little clueless me... Tom was not a friendly guy at all, not like he was in the diary; he was ruthless and had used an eleven year old girl to gain power and to attack the muggleborns. Well, I could understand that after fifty years trapped inside the diary, he wanted out again,” Harry muttered under his breath. “Who wouldn´t?”

He shook his head before continuing. “Tom pointed out how similar we were: Both halfbloods, orphans, raised by disgusting muggles. That Lord Voldemort was his past, present and future, his name an anagram of Tom Marvolo Riddle. He ranted about his muggle father, who abandoned his mother because she was a witch.

“Then he said something peculiar, that he had wanted to meet me for a long time, to ask about why I survived. How could a baby like me destroy the Dark Lord, the greatest dark wizard of all time? I had no clue. I told him what Dumbledore said, that I survived because of something my mother did, that she died for me, my common muggleborn mother,” Harry explained. “I foolishly said something about Dumbledore being the greatest wizard.”

Harry chuckled ruefully and brushed his mop of hair back, grinning sheepishly. At Voldemort’s incredulous look, a faint blush crept over his cheeks. “Yes, well I was only twelve, and since I was playing the part, I was quite the brave, stupid Gryffindor dunderhead; that was not very clever of me to defy Tom like this. My Slytherin side was underdeveloped back then.

“Suddenly Fawkes, Dumbledore´s phoenix, turned up. He brought me the Sorting Hat. Tom laughed at me and then got angry, he called the Basilisk forth in Parseltongue out of Salazar´s statue and set it upon me. I thought I was a goner.”

Harry shuddered, remembering his frantic scrambling away, eyes closed, the deadly giant serpent attacking him.

“My only weapon was the Sorting Hat, with Gryffindors sword inside; then Fawkes attacked its head, blinding the Basilisk. Tom screamed in rage. With the sword I fought the Basilisk and killed it. It bit me in the arm during our fight. I fell down, in horrible pain from the venom; I was so weak, everything blurred, went cold and dark, I was sure I was dying. Then Fawkes flew over to me and cried on the wound, healing it.”

Voldemort stared at him, fascinated by the account.

Harry looked intently back at him.

“Tom was astounded. He couldn´t believe it. He had thought he would win, that the Basilisk would easily kill me. He thought the venom was killing me for sure. When I struggled to sit up again, he said it was ok, only him and me to fight to the end. He pointed my wand at me. I saw it in his eyes, he still wanted me dead. He was ready to curse me. Fawkes swooped over and dropped the diary into my hands.

“I, I ... had no choice. It was him or me. I picked up the broken Basilisk fang that had stuck in my arm and – I stabbed the diary right through the middle. It seemed to burn the book, ink poured out. Tom screamed, so horrible. Gods. It was terrible. He started to write and twist, then he dissolved. Black ink poured out of the diary like rivers of blood. Then he was gone.” Harry concluded his tale, trembling, breathing fast. He had repressed the memories of how painful and terrible this ordeal had been.

“I killed him. I´m sorry, I had no choice, I had to fight for my life. “ Harry finished in a whisper, despair in his eyes that were locked with Voldemort’s, who was now glaring burning daggers at the young man.

“So, the diary isss dessstroyed?” Voldemort pressed out, his whole body taunt as a bow, his voice taking on a hissing quality.

“Yes, there was no magic left, it was pierced right through the covers from side to side and looked burned,” Harry answered.

“Where isss it now?” snapped the Dark Lord.

“Oh, I don´t know, I think in Dumbledore´s office... I´ll try to remember...”

“You ssshowed the diary to Dumbledore!?” Voldemort exclaimed, jumping up. “You told him what happened in the Chamber? About my younger ssself?” he asked urgently, grabbing Harry at the front of his robes, pulling the boy to his feet.

“Err, sorry, yes sir, I did?” Harry answered uneasily, worried by this uncharacteristic show of emotion from Voldemort. His scar burned, the man must be so furious.

Harry hurriedly explained, “After Tom was gone, Ginny woke up, we went back through the tunnels to Ron and Lockhart. Fawkes carried us all up to the bathroom again. We followed Fawkes to McGonagall´s office, where McGonagall and Dumbledore were waiting with the Weasley family. I had taken the Sorting Hat, the sword and the diary along and put everything on McGonagall’s desk; then Ron and I had to tell everyone what happened and how we figured out that the monster in the Chamber was a Basilisk.

“Dumbledore told the Weasley family that Ginny had been enchanted by Lord Voldemort. He told the whole room that your real name was Tom Riddle, that you were the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen. Ginny confessed that she wrote in the diary and that it did write back. I think ... Dumbledore kept it after everybody was gone...” Harry trailed of quietly, shaking in fear, because he could feel Voldemort’s rage ripping open his scar. His head ached fiercely.

Voldemort pushed Harry down to his knees with surprising strength and drew his wand with the other hand, towering over the teen, his face twisted in rage, his dark power swirling around him like a thunderstorm, pressing down on Harry.

Harry´s face scrunched up in pain, his scar split open, blood dripped over his forehead, tears pooling in his emerald eyes. He pressed his eyes and lips shut, awaiting the Crucio to start.

“Potter,” Voldemort viciously spat out the name. “You cost me something very dear, immensely valuable, and irreplaceable. Revealing this knowledge to Dumbledore and actually destroying my H...,” he cut himself off, hissing, {Crucio.}

Terrible pain shot through Harry, his bones were on fire, and thousand knives pierced his body, every muscle cramped. He crumbled to the floor, curling up in the fetal position. He tried to relax, concentrating on his breathing to let the pain flow through him – the best tactic according to Severus to deal with this agony. Harry gnashed his teeth, biting through his lower lip, trying to keep his screams inside as long as he could. Fuck, this curse was pure hot pain, he didn´t think he would ever get used to it. And in Parseltongue it was worse than ever.

Voldemort stopped the curse abruptly. Harry was panting and trembling at his feet. He struggled to push himself up to kneel, trying not to show weakness in front of the Dark Lord.

Harry shuddered; he opened his eyes, blinked away the tears and stared up again at the tall serpentine man, his mouth suddenly dry, not daring to say anything. Merlin´s bloody balls, he didn´t know that old diary had been so dear to the Dark Lord. Why was it so valuable? No matter, better not to ask and tick him off again. Harry had always been brave, but he had seldom felt so near almost certain death before, well maybe that night in the graveyard...

Voldemort heaved a few deep breaths, visibly trying to gain control over his emotions and his turbulent magic again. He stared into Harry´s eyes, whispering “Legilimens.”

Harry, feeling the forceful intrusion, lowered his shields at once. He felt him riffling through the memories at the forefront of Harry´s mind. Sharp pain throbbed at Harry´s temples. Slowly the swirling dark magic pulled back. Voldemort’s face smoothed again to his normal indifferent mask. His wand hand still trembled, the knuckles white from clenching the wand so hard, pointing it down at Harry´s heart.

After a minute of silence, Voldemort spoke: “Yes, you did not know better, you were a child. You did not keep this information from me on purpose. Therefore, I will be lenient with your punishment.” He pocketed his wand.

“Don´t talk to anybody else without my permission about what happened in the Chamber of Secrets, my former name, childhood or ancestry,” Voldemort spoke sternly. “Do not reveal the importance of my diary, not many people alive know of its existence. A shame it is too late now to obliviate everybody who was present that day in McGonagall´s office. Try to distract Dumbledore or other people if the subject should ever come up. Take note if any other Order members let slip that they have been informed about these events.”

Harry swallowed around the lump in his throat and asked quietly, “Please, sir, may I speak?”

Voldemort nodded.

“I don´t think so, my Lord,” explained Harry. “Nobody from the teachers or the Order asked me after second year where the Chamber was or what actually happened. There were rumours around the school of course, but Dumbledore kept everything under wraps. I would say the students of our defence club from last year know that I killed the Basilisk. At our first meeting it came up, a student named Terry Boot asked me if it was true; he said that he was waiting in Dumbledore´s office and that a portrait told him that I had killed a Basilisk with Gryffindors sword.

“But this is not common knowledge at all, otherwise I think some teacher or reporter would have said or written something; well it is not every day that a boy kills the king of snakes, isn´t it? Back in second year, Dumbledore only talked to me a short while after the others had left McGonagall´s office. I was so confused. I asked him if I would become like Tom, because I could speak Parseltongue, and because the Sorting Hat wanted me in Slytherin, but I begged it to put me anywhere else. Dumbledore said I wasn´t like Tom.”

At this, Voldemort blinked a few times in shock.

Harry smiled ruefully, “Yeah, I know, I should have been in Slytherin, well that´s a story for another chat. After all the ruckus in second year, one would think that Dumbledore would have wanted to visit the Chamber, but he never asked me for help or talked about this again to me.”

Harry shifted a bit into a more comfortable position and continued, “I think that if he had told for example Professor Snape, then Severus would have asked me to bring him down to the Chamber as soon as possible. After all, there is a valuable Basilisk corpse rotting down there. Severus would love to harvest scales, skin, teeth and such for use as potions ingredients.”

Voldemort thought a moment about what Harry had revealed. “This is a good point, I will consider telling Severus,” he agreed, then continued in a brisk tone, “Now, if you can manage it without arousing suspicion, steal the diary from Dumbledore and bring it back to me. Be subtle. Should Dumbledore ever talk to you about my youth or the diary, or hint that he is interested in any ... other ... old heirlooms or artifacts of mine, be careful and evasive. Try to ascertain if he knows anything substantial or is only speculating. Report to me anything you discover as soon as possible. Do you understand, Harry?”

“Yes, my Lord,” Harry answered earnestly, still slightly trembling from the aftershocks. It came naturally to him to use my Lord in this situation, and not the familiar name Marvolo.

Voldemort looked down upon the young man, who now knelt gracefully with a straight back before him, head bowed. Harry had taken his punishment well and not argued, pleaded for mercy or otherwise disgraced himself. He was recovering quickly. That earned his respect.

“Harry, stand up and look at me,” Voldemort said.

“Yes, my Lord?” Harry answered, rising gracefully to his feet and tilting his head back, locking emerald with ruby eyes. Voldemort slowly brought his hand up, Harry flinched nevertheless, but the older man only waved his hand over Harry´s face, cleaning up the blood and healing the skin of the scar and his bitten through lip at the same time with a tingle of gentle magic. Harry breathed out slowly in relief.

“Tell me one more thing. Do you have any idea how my diary came into the hands of the Weasley girl?” asked Voldemort.

Harry swallowed again. Oh, this promised a world of pain for somebody else for a change. He could not lessen the blow, Voldemort would know at once if Harry lied.

“Lucius Malfoy. I am quite sure that Lucius dropped the little book into Ginny´s cauldron full of second hand books on purpose. That was before the start of the school year, when we were all at Flourish and Botts, buying our school supplies,” Harry answered as short and precise as possible.

He took a step back and lowered his gaze submissively, because Voldemort looked enraged again and Harry´s scar twinge with renewed pain.

“I sssee, so it was dear Luciusss.... I thought as much,” hissed Voldemort, then quickly clamping down on his temper again. “I will question him later. Now Harry, let´s sit down again, you look quite shaken.”

Voldemort summoned a house elf and requested tea and sandwiches for Harry. Harry was glad to get something to drink; his throat was rather dry from talking so much, not to mention the bout of embarrassing screams during his short punishment.

After a few minutes of silence, the Dark Lord addressed Harry again in a calm voice, “You did well to be so open and honest with me. I thank you for your trust and loyalty. Now, you were talking about the prophecy before we became sidetracked. Do continue, please.”

Harry thought a moment about what he had explained so far and said, “Anyways, in my mind, the whole prophecy is null and void for all the reasons mentioned; it is already more than fulfilled. It said I had the power to vanquish you, not that I would really do it. It said that you would mark me. You did mark me with this scar, when you tried to kill me as a baby. We did kill each other in a way that Halloween, but we both survived.

“You got a corporal body back and you live again. I freed myself of the only ‘surviving’, not ‘living’ at the Dursleys and from the pressure of the Wizarding world to be their ‘saviour’, to sacrifice myself without ever really living for the ‘greater good’. We both agreed to stop attacking each other. Now we are actually both living at the same time, in the same place and we don´t have a problem with it. It is not true that we cannot exist at the same time, be both alive and well.

“It never said in the prophecy which Dark Lord would be required to vanquish. Down in the Chamber, memory Tom claimed to be you. He did ‘kill’ me, with the Basilisk. I ‘vanquished’ him,” at this point Harry again mimed quotation marks with his fingers. “I have already done what was needed of me without me or anyone else knowing it.”

Voldemort was quiet as he thought over everything Harry had just said. He had been interested in the prophecy from the moment he had heard of it. He had admitted to himself that the events leading to his near death, him marking Harry with the curse scar, just as the prophecy had foretold, never would have happened if he had not chosen to attack the Potters. Alas, he had.

Now, after he had gained Harry’s allegiance, he had been slightly worried about the prophecy and how it would work out, now that the two of them were on the same side. However, if he understood what Harry was saying, his worries were unfounded.

“I must admit I was slightly worried about it ever since we joined,” Voldemort said at last. “After Severus told me the entire contents due to you, I never really thought much on it. However, when I did, I never looked at it this way. I guess the Old Man never thought of it this way either.”

“I doubt it,” Harry chuckled. “He may be powerful and seemingly all knowing, but as smart as he is, he’s just as oblivious to certain things.”

“True,” Voldemort nodded. “That is one obstacle that has been removed in my path.”

“Yes,” Harry nodded. “If I may ask, what exactly did Yaxley do to cause you to use the Cruciatus Curse on him?”

“How did you know I used the curse on him?” Voldemort raised an eyebrow.

“Through this,” Harry pointed to his scar. “I can tell what you’re feeling, when the emotions are really intense, like anger. Or extreme happiness, like that time in my fifth year, when you broke the LeStranges out of Azkaban. You noticed yourself a few minutes ago, how my scar reacted and that I was in severe pain. Whenever you’ve used the Curse in red hot fury on one of your followers, I’ve always felt it as a headache through our link.”

“I never knew that,” Voldemort murmured. “I never really became aware of our link until your fifth year. That’s when I started sending you those visions because I had needed to know what the prophecy contained.”

Harry was quiet as he remembered that previous school year; because of those visions, he had lost his godfather. Sensing the directions of his thoughts, Voldemort looked at him.

“I suppose you’re angry with me for the demise of your godfather,” he said.

“I was,” Harry shrugged. “You’re not fully to blame, but you still held a part in it; most of the blame went to Dumbledore. While I was upset he was gone, a part of me didn’t mind because his death meant I didn’t have to keep hiding who I was.”

“Explain,” Voldemort said.

“Sirius was my anchor to the light side,” Harry said, “because of him, I was willing to keep my dark side buried. When he died, it was my clutch being released. Without him to ground me, I felt no need to keep to the light.”

“I understand,” Voldemort nodded. “I do believe if I had been in the same situation, I would’ve, with no doubt, reacted the way you did.”

“I believe you would’ve,” Harry smirked.

“How goes things with young Mr. Malfoy?” Voldemort asked.

“Good,” Harry smiled and his eyes lit up with happiness. “They’re going really good. What about you and Severus? Are things moving along with the both of you?”

“Severus is mine,” Voldemort said. “And he knows it, so yes, things are moving along very well and if it wasn’t for Yaxley, things would’ve been even better.”

“What do you mean?” Harry raised an eyebrow. “What did he do?”

“He…interrupted a moment between Severus and me,” Voldemort said.

Harry was quiet and his brows furrowed in slight confusion. Seconds later, his brows cleared and he laughed. “No wonder you cursed him. So, just how far was your…moment?”

Voldemort didn’t say anything, but Harry could see a faint blush on the snake-like face.

“No wonder the Curse was so powerful,” Harry laughed as he shook his head. “It was in Parseltongue wasn’t it? If he had done the same to me, I would’ve done the same to him.”

“He’s lucky it wasn’t the killing curse,” Voldemort scowled and Harry laughed.

“So are you Severus official now or what?” Harry asked. “Or is he just a plaything for you?”

“I should curse you brat,” Voldemort narrowed his eyes at him.

“I know,” Harry nodded. “But, as crazy at it seems, I care about him and I don’t want him to get hurt. I think after everything’s he’s been through, he deserves some happiness.”

“As I told Severus, I desire no one else but him,” Voldemort said as he sensed the sincerity and honesty in Harry’s voice. “ I’m a Dark Lord; I’m not supposed to feel guilt for cursing a follower, and yet, I did. A few days before the attack all those years, he and I talked and he told me I should have a plan in the event that Dumbledore might have planned something. I placed the Cruciatus Curse on him. When I freed him from it, I was filled with an immense amount of guilt. I have never cursed him with such force since that night and I never will again.”

“Do you think you could fall in love with him?” Harry asked; he was hesitant to ask the question, as he wasn’t sure if he would be overstepping his boundaries. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to; I don’t want to overstep any boundaries.”

“If it was anyone else,” Voldemort said. “They would’ve overstepped boundaries and would be Crucio’d for their impudence. However, I do know of the past between you and Severus and I do know of how things have progressed between the two of since school has let out.”

“I think…I think I’m coming to see him as a father figure,” Harry said slowly. “Or maybe I already have.”

“It would not surprise me,” Voldemort nodded.

“You know,” Harry chuckled. “If anyone had told me I’d be sitting here with you, talking like this, I’d laugh in their face and probably attack them for saying it in the first place.”

“Agreed,” Voldemort said.

~…~

The next few days passed in relative calm. The twins and Harry had spent it going over the financial details for the store while Snape worked in the lab and Remus read the book thoroughly. Neville, or rather Cory as he preferred to be called now, spent the time getting to know his parents and uncle and the Dark Lord spoke with his followers about their assignments.

Tonight was the night of the full moon and Remus was sitting in his room at Harry’s Manor. He had finished the book that Harry had given him and in all honesty, he was terrified as to what he was going to do, but he was willing to do it for Harry.

“You ok?” a voice sounded to his right. He knew who it was as he smelled them before he saw them. “Remus?”

“I’m ok Harry,” Remus said as he looked up at him.

“Scared about tonight?” Harry asked as he walked over to him.

“A little,” Remus admitted. “But, I’m still going to try it.”

“Ok,” Harry nodded. “I’ll leave you alone to gather your thoughts and whatnot.”

“Alright,” Remus nodded as he stood up. “I’ll see you in the morning cub.”

“Night Remy,” Harry said as he pulled him into a hug.

“Night,” Remus said and he watched as Harry left the room. He sighed as he turned to look out the window. The moon was going to rise soon. “I hope this works.”

He left his room and headed outside. He didn’t want to be anywhere near if things went wrong. He walked past the Quidditch Pitch and headed into the woods. He got to the clearing in the middle and stopped. He looked up at the sky, watching as the moon rose in the sky. He could feel his fear rising in him.

Don’t fight me. Don’t fight it. Accept it…accept me.

He listened to the wolf inside of him and for the first time in his life, Remus didn’t fight his transformation; he accepted that it was a part of his life. A growl was released from his throat as he fell to his hands and knees. He felt the clothes tearing from his body as the moon worked her magic on him.

He could feel the change going through his body and he welcomed it. His wolf came forward and instead of allowing himself to be pushed to the back, he merged with it; the man and wolf were finally one.

When it was done, he whined low in his throat as he struggled to his hind legs. His movements were slightly wobbly, before they became stronger and soon, he was standing up right. He lifted his head to the moon and he showed his appreciation and thanks to her; he howled.

He turned his head as a scent wafted to his nose. It was a scent that was familiar to him. A feral grin came on his face and he bounded to where the scent was coming from. As he ran through the trees, he felt a sense of freedom and strength he had never felt before. The scent was getting closer and his pace increased. Before he knew it, he had broke through the woods and was bounding across the pitch. As he was going across, he could feel a pull; it was a strong one and he knew what it was, but the scent he was following was stronger.

He saw the house and stopped just before he reached it. He sniffed the air to pinpoint the scent and his head swivelled to an upper window. He crouched down before pushing off and jumping up the wall. To his luck, the window was open and he went through. The scent was even stronger and when he got his bearings, he saw the source lying on the bed. With a low whine he stalked forward and nuzzled the body.

“Wh-wh-what?” Harry opened his eyes slowly as he felt the push against his side. He was a bit groggy, but when he felt the nudge again, he looked to where it was and his eyes went wide as the sleepiness cleared. He sat up quickly and watched as the wolf moved away.

Harry fell to his knees in front of the wolf and tentatively reached out his hand. “Remus?”

The wolf growled softly as he stepped forward enough for Harry to touch.

“Remy,” Harry breathed even as he ran his hand through the fur. “You should see yourself. Your fur is thicker, darker and coarser. Your body is bigger, Remy, you look amazing. Look for yourself.”

He looked at the mirror on the wall and with a wave of his hand, he brought it to him and enlarged it before placing it in front of the wolf.

The wolf turned to the mirror and took in the reflection staring back at him. Instead of the normal, scrawny wolf, it was a healthier looking one; it had a fuller, thicker and darker coat, the wolf was bigger, even on all fours, he reached Harry’s head, which would put him about Harry’s waist level if Harry stood up, which, incidentally, he did as he walked over to the wolf.

“Can you stand on your hind legs?” Harry asked. “I’m wondering just how much taller you are.”

The wolf did as was asked and he stood on his hind legs, coming to stand about a foot and a half above Harry’s head. Suddenly, arms wrapped around his body and he felt tears soaking his fur.

“Thank you Remy,” Harry whispered against the wolf’s chest. He pulled back before going back to his bed, suddenly yawning. He sat down on the bed and the wolf went down on all fours before walking over to Harry. He used his nose and pushed him backwards until he was laying on the bed. Harry turned on his side and looked at the wolf. He yawned again.

“I love you Remy,” he whispered before his eyes closed and he fell asleep.

The wolf walked forward and licked his face before lying down on the floor. He would not go back out, though the pull that felt earlier was calling him; he would stay and watch over his cub.

The next morning, Harry woke up and quickly looked over. He smiled when he saw Remus lying next to his bed in only a pair of tattered pants.

“Remus,” he said softly. “Remus, wake up.”

Remus groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. “Harry?”

“It worked,” Harry’s eyes lit up in happiness as he moved to the floor to grab Remus in a hug. “It worked!”

Remus laughed as he tightened his arms around Harry. He could never remember before, but he remembered what happened last night. He remembered his transformation and the scent that he had caught; the scent of his cub. He remembered how being with Harry was more important than testing out his new form.

“Yes it did,” Remus replied as he pulled back from the hug.

“Now,” Harry smiled. “According to the book, you will be able to transform into the wolf anytime you want; kinda like being an animagus. You’re senses in your human form will be stronger than they were.”

“There’s also something else,” Remus said.

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“I can also feel my mate,” Remus said. At Harry’s look, he explained. “Last night, I felt a pull. It was the pull of my mate, which is something I didn’t feel before. Or rather, I felt it, but it was muted in a sense.”

“Why didn’t you go to it?” Harry asked.

“Because the scent and pull of my cub was stronger,” Remus said. “You were right; a cub is the most important thing to a wolf, or in my case, a werewolf.”

“So,” Harry said. “Do you have any idea who your mate is?”

“Yes,” Remus nodded. “It’s Lucius Malfoy; the pull I felt last night was similar to the one I’ve been getting whenever I’m around him. The difference is, the one last night is stronger.”

“Lucius Malfoy, huh?” Harry chuckled.

“I know,” Remus laughed. “We have our work cut out for us.”

The bedroom was filled with the laughter of the two of them.

~…~

A few days back:

As soon as Harry had left the room, the Dark Lord dropped his impassive mask. He paced around his study, nervous energy, anger and fear consuming him. He was very worried. Nagini was watching him and asked, {What dissstresssesss you so much, massster?}

Voldemort glanced in her direction and answered preoccupied, {Hmm? Oh, it is about what Harry revealed to me. In his sssecond year, he found the Chamber of Sssecretsss in Hogwarts; he killed the king of ssserpentsss and dessstroyed a valuable artifact of mine.}

{What? That´sss terrible! Imposssible! How could a mere boy kill the mighty king of ssserpentsss?} Nagini exclaimed in shock.

{Yes, it sounds imposssible, unbelievable, but he did. I looked at hisss memoriesss. Foolisssh boy. He was incredibly lucky to sssurvive. As a consssequence of Harry´sss adventure, Dumbledore may have gained knowledge about sssome dark magic I did in my youth. This could pose a threat to my immortality,} Voldemort explained to his familiar.

He continued to pace back and forth in front of the windows, rubbing his hands across his head, speaking more to himself then to Nagini.

{Why in Sssalazar´sss name did Luciusss dare to ssslip my diary to the blood traitor chit? For what purpossse? Doesss he know what happened at Hogwartsss? He must know something; Harry mentioned that there were rumoursss; however, Luciusss hasss not mentioned anything to me. Traitorousss bassstard. I told him to keep the diary sssafe. I ssshould have checked as sssoon as I moved into Malfoy Manor. I trusssted Luciusss. I assumed that it was sstill sssafe, hidden sssomewhere deep in a well-warded place,} muttered Voldemort, quite angry with Lucius and also himself.

He had been so sure that nobody ever would discover or touch his Horcruxes and now this mess!

{Massster that´sss a shame. Luciusss has been trustworthy so far. Did Luciusss or Harry know how much you valued that diary you ssspeak of?} asked Nagini.

Voldemort spun around and answered, {Well Harry didn´t know, how could he? However, Lucius should have known better, I explicitly told him to keep that book safe. It was not his place to touch it. I will question him later.}

‘This is a disaster,’ thought Voldemort. ‘Not so much that Potter destroyed the diary and killed the old Basilisk, which of course is very unfortunate. Much worse is that the old meddler heard how my diary interacted with the Weasley girl and Harry Potter.’

His brows furrowed as his thoughts went on. ‘Does he suspect it was more than only a small book with a memory charm? Yes, he told the Weasleys that Lord Voldemort had possessed their daughter by means of the diary. Dumbledore could put the clues together. When he does, he will be searching for information on what my younger self learned about soul magic like a niffler searching for gold. After all, I found the initial hint in an old tome in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts library.’

Voldemort went back to his chair and leaned against the armrest, looking at Nagini while contemplating what Dumbledore could possibly discover about the Horcruxes. He had covered his tracks well, hadn´t he?

Nagini slithered up onto the seat and backrest of the chair and flicked out her tongue, asking, {Massster, doesss anybody elssse know about your sssecret possessions? Could sssomebody sssteal or dessstroy them?}

{Well, Harry said... never mind. Dumbledore does not know, he only suspects... } Voldemort answered. {I had entrusted two of my artifacts to inner circle members, to Bellatrix and Lucius; Lucius failed me. Bella was always faithful and loyal. I don´t think her vault was compromised; the goblins have a strict honour code and keep customer secrets confidential. My own vault was undisturbed during my absence.}

He stared ahead, lost in thought.

‘The locket should be quite safe, it is very well protected. The ring is another matter. If Dumbledore should find out where the muggle Riddle family once lived, he would come to Little Hangleton. If he snoops around the village, he might notice the wards around Riddle Manor and the old Gaunt shack; in this case he might recognize my magical signature, although I veiled it.’ Voldemort contemplated, absentmindedly caressing Nagini´s warm scaly skin. ‘This would arouse his suspicion and he would intensify his search. I shall do a safety check this evening. The tiara must be still in Hogwarts; I could send Harry to check, I don´t have to tell him what exactly it is... Who else would know anything –

Suddenly a new idea popped up in his mind, a very unwelcome idea. ‘Oh Salazar, if Dumbledore ever corners Slughorn, he could force out his memory about my question concerning more than one Horcrux!’

Voldemort clenched his hands around the backrest, he felt like hitting or casting the Cruciatus Curse on himself. How arrogant and stupid had he been, so sure of his superiority and immortality? Slughorn had feared him, under normal circumstances he would never disclose that he knew who Lord Voldemort once was or what they had talked about fifty years back at Hogwarts. But, he had been absent over ten years. Was it possible that Dumbledore had visited Slughorn after Harry´s second year and before it was public knowledge that he was back indeed? Alternatively, perhaps Dumbledore was searching for Slughorn just in this moment? Improbable, yes, but not altogether impossible.

Voldemort had sent Slughorn a letter some time ago, ordering him to support the Dark. Not as a Death Eater, oh no, the old man was useful in another way. Slughorn sat like a fat spider in the middle of a web of contacts. He was a master at manipulating people, creating opportunities for others. He would have been invaluable to the cause. Slughorn had not answered the letter...very unwise. One does not say no to a request of the Dark Lord.

{I ssshould have killed Ssslughorn thirty yearsss ago... foolisssh loyalty, foolisssh sssentimentality. Well, thisss at leassst I can correct,} hissed Voldemort.

He smiled evilly, imagining different ways to kill his old Head of House and the shocked expression on Dumbledore´s face, when he heard of the murder. Should there be a gruesome public message, with a bloody, mutilated corpse, the dark mark hovering over Slughorn’s burning house? On the other hand, would it not be better to do this stealthy, in secret; let Slughorn simply disappear without a trace?

{You need to get rid of sssomeone? Will he be my dinner, isss he tasssty?}” Nagini asked, trying to cheer her master up a bit.

{What? Oh yesss Nagini, the man isss nice and fat, he lovesss to eat candy pineapple, but it will take a little while to hunt him down,} chuckled Voldemort. Yes, this was such a nice mental picture, Slughorn staring at him, pleading for his life, as Nagini pursued him, then coiled around him and crushed his ribs.

So sly and stealthy it would be instead of a public raid. This way Dumbledore might suspect his involvement, but would have no proof.

{Thank you Nagini, thisss helped me,} he spoke softly to the huge snake, bending down to pet her head.

He would question Slughorn of course before his death. If Slughorn hadn´t told Dumbledore anything, he would show mercy, kill him painlessly with the Avada Kedavra out of loyalty to Slytherin house; but if Slughorn had tattled to the Headmaster... then Nagini would have her fun. It was quite boring for a snake to feed on already dead prey after all...

Then Voldemort continued with his pacing and pondering. ‘Is there anything positive in this situation? Well, Dumbledore so far has not asked Severus about his Dark Arts knowledge concerning soul magic, has he? I must question Severus; he has not mentioned this topic in his report on the old meddler’s activities. Of course, Dumbledore loves to keep his secrets, maybe he doesn´t trust Severus enough?

‘At least, Dumbledore cannot suspect what my Horcruxes look like or where any are hidden, apart from the ring, if he has watched those memories of Slughorn or found Little Hangleton. Nevertheless, I shall check on all them, and send someone reliable on a mission to find Slughorn. The old man retired when Severus took over his position; since last year, he has been constantly moving and could live anywhere now. Well, he loves his culture comforts and old contacts, he relishes in the feeling of knowing so many important people, and most likely, he has not left Britain. He should not be that hard to hunt down. Hopefully it is not too late. This could be a job for Harry and Hedwig.’

Having come to a decision, Voldemort strode to the door, which sprang open before he reached it, his magic pouring off him like a storm cloud. The house elves in the manor trembled in fear.

~…~

Snape sighed as he gave one final stir of the potion; all it needed was the final ingredient.

“Hedwig?” he called out and the phoenix flashed into the room, coming to land on his shoulder. “Hey girl.”

Hedwig trilled softly before rubbing her head against his.

“I was wondering if I could ask a favour from you,” Snape said.

Hedwig trilled and bobbed her head.

“I’m working on a potion,” Snape explained. “It will help the Dark Lord regain his youthful appearance. However, it requires a final ingredient and it is one that I do not have; but you do. If you do not mind, all I require is two drops of phoenix tears.”

Hedwig trilled before rising off of Snape’s shoulder and hovering over the potion. She tilted her head to the side and allowed two teardrops to fall in. The potion glowed from its dark purple colour to a light green. Hedwig trilled before moving back to Snape’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” Snape said as he reached up a hand to rub her head. All that was needed was to let the potion sit for thirty minutes. He spent the time cleaning up the mess he had made and putting away the ingredients he had used. When he was done, he turned back to the potion and saw that it was ready. He poured into two bottles, placing one in his robes and holding the other in front of him.

“Well,” he said to Hedwig who had moved from his shoulder to the table. “Bottoms up.”

He downed the potion in one gulp and placed the empty bottle on the table. It took a few minutes before the potion would and it was a tense few minutes for him. Soon, he felt it start working and he closed his eyes as he felt the effects.

Minutes later, he opened his eyes and looked at Hedwig. “Well? What do you think?”

She trilled excitedly, letting out waves of magic, which he felt drift over him. He transfigured one of the quills into a mirror and picked it up. He couldn’t contain the gasp that escaped his lips as he saw his reflection.

“It worked,” he breathed. He looked over at Hedwig. “Thank you girl.”

She trilled.

“Could you please take me to Malfoy Manor?” he asked. “I need to speak with the Dark Lord, so could you please take me to just outside his doors?”

She trilled before coming over to land on his shoulder and the two disappeared in a flash of fire.

The two appeared in the Manor, just outside of the Dark Lord’s chambers.

“Thank you Hedwig,” Snape murmured. She trilled before she flashed out. Snape took a deep breath before he knocked on the door three times.

“Enter.”

He opened the door and walked in. He saw that the Dark Lord was sitting in a chair next to the fire.

“My Lord,” Snape bowed.

Voldemort looked up and couldn’t stop the gasp from escaping his lips as he looked at his potions master. He stood up and walked over to him. “Severus?”

“Yes my Lord,” Snape nodded. “It’s me.”

“How is this possible?” Voldemort asked as his eyes travelled over the body.

“A potion my Lord,” Snape said. “One that I was working on. I found it in one of the books from Harry’s library. He found a spell to copy and translate the book into another language and he translated it into English and gave it to me. Inside, it contained a potion that would restore the youthful appearance of the drinker.”

“Severus,” Voldemort started.

“I wanted to give something to you,” Snape continued. “I spent the last few days working on it and finished it just over thirty minutes ago. However, as I was not completely sure it would work, I tested it on myself to ensure no harm could come to you.”

“You did that without knowing what could possibly happen?” Voldemort demanded from him.

“Yes my Lord,” Snape nodded. “You are our Lord and I was not about to give you a potion that would be detrimental to your health.”

“I see,” Voldemort nodded, though he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of Snape’s new face or body.

“I saved a vial for you in the case that it did work,” Snape said as he removed the bottle from his robes and held it out to his Lord.

“I trust you Severus,” Voldemort said as he took the bottle. He drank it and waited patiently. Soon, he felt the effects and as Snape did, his eyes closed. He opened them when he heard Snape gasp.

“My Lord,” Snape’s voice had turned husky as he took in the new appearance of the Dark Lord.

A/N: what did you guys think? I hope Fred and George’s reasoning were ok. As for the scene with Harry and Lord Voldemort, I had to do it….or rather, my co-author and beta, decided it was something that needed to be done and I completely agreed. While being AU, this story will still follow some of the events from canon.

Reviews: I love every single one of them and thanks to everyone for truly enjoying this story. I do have a favour to ask; it’s a little hard to respond to reviews as I can’t really tell you’re reviewing the current or previous chapter, so if you guys don’t mind, when you leave a review, could you please put the chapter at the front of your review? e.g.: (chpt 5; blah blah blah) it would make it so much easier for me to respond to a specific reviewer. Thanks.
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Rise of the Dark Angel