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Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness	By : Danyealle Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Voldemort Views: 297597 -:- Recommendations : 54 -:- Currently Reading : 184
Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter. This is a work of fanfiction and no profit is being made. It is a for-fun endeavor and no infringement is intended.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
This chapter is written by: Aya Macchiato

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

Link to the first story...

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

-Danyealle

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Chapter 6

The next day was a very significant day at the manor. It was the first full scale Death Eater meeting since Voldemort had initially announced his return to his followers. Everyone was called in. It was 3 pm in the afternoon when everyone was summoned to the manor and the group gathered in the ballroom, nervously looking around, wondering were Voldemort was because he wasn't in the room waiting for them.

The group was already larger than it had been before since there had already been some success in the recruitment front. Most of the new recruits were family members of the older Death Eaters but there were also some who were friends, co-workers, and political allies who had been brought in at some point during the previous month. But none of those present seemed to actually know what this meeting was about. The only one in the room who seemed to know what was going on was Barty, who was standing off to the side, surveying the crowd with a smirk on his lips. He was wearing black robes, like the rest of them, but his hood was down and his mask was tucked into his inner pocket. Some in the room were dressed the same as he, with their faces exposed, while most wore their masks.

The doors to the ballroom opened, rather dramatically, and the room fell silent. Voldemort walked in with his brisk, powerful, strides, and Harry, as Evan Harris, followed immediately behind him with equal confidence. He was wearing his Death Eater robes and silver half-mask, and carrying a leather portfolio filled with papers. Some of the gathered Death Eaters all bowed at the waist as Voldemort came to stand at the front of the group while about a third of them went all the way down to their knees in a sign of submission.

"I hope you all have your schedules cleared for the day because we will likely be here for a while," Voldemort began. "For those of my followers who stood by me during the first war, aside from those of you who now work in the Department for Magical Law Enforcement, it has likely been years since you last saw action. For those who have joined me since my return, it is likely you never have seen real action at all. I know that many of you have enjoyed comfort during my absence and it's likely you have allowed your skills to slip," he sneered as he glowered across the group. Quite a few flinched or bowed their heads under his glare.

"I need to gauge your combative skill levels and it is likely that many of you are in desperate need of training. I will be splitting you into three groups. Those of you who possess advanced skill, and have not let your ability to duel or battle degrade over the years. Those of you who are able in battle but could still use training to further your skills will be placed in the intermediate group. And, finally, a group for those with absolutely worthless combat skills. I understand that some of you have uses to me that go beyond your ability to fight but I still need to know where you skill level lies."

Voldemort's gaze traveled over the group of forty-plus men and a few women in black robes and white masks. Some of them, especially the older of the group, had obviously grown fat and lazy in the years since his last rise to power. They possessed political power and influence so they were far from useless but he knew that when it came time for combat, many of them would be useless. Fortunately, he didn't expect any combat scenarios to arise for at least three months and he was sure he could pull together a good enough team for what he had planned from the remaining Death Eaters by then.

"The three groups will be expected to come to the manor at a designated time, every week, for training... with me."

As he finished that last part, a mix of excited and anxious murmurs broke out in the crowd and the level of tension rose considerably.

"I will designate the time and you will be responsible for creating some sort of excuse as to why you are gone each week. I am not going to try and accommodate everyone's schedules, you will simply have to make due. You will be here."

Voldemort's tone booked no room for argument, so no one dared. He continued on, explaining how that afternoon would progress.

"To speed things along, I ask that you all separate yourselves for the initial stage. Everyone who believes themselves adequate for the advanced group, stand over there," Tom said, indicating one side of the room. "Those who believe they would be a better fit for the intermediate group, gather there," again, he pointed to the desired location. "And those who are willing to admit that your battle skills are abysmal, stand over there. Do not try to lie or boast about your skill level and place yourself higher than you belong. I'll know who does and does not belong in each group by the end of this day. Putting yourself in a group of higher skill than you actually possess will only make things more difficult for you in the end." Voldemort finished dryly.

The gathered group, quickly, began to divvy themselves up. The third group was the smallest but Harry knew that by the end of the day it would probably be much larger. He knew that Tom had high expectations for those who would be placed in the advanced group and even the intermediate group was going to need some trimming. Harry stood to the side and observed the crowd as the Dark Lord spoke. His voice was confident, commanding, sharp, and left the majority of the people in the room in awe or in cowed fear. Harry always found it amazing to watch the man as he commanded his followers. The level of control and power he wielded was glorious.

It wasn't too long before the room was a blur of action. Voldemort had mock duels going on in all of the groups while he, Harry, and Barty walked around, observing. Curses were flying, people were being blasted across open spaces, spells were being shouted, while those who weren't idiots were casting non-verbally.

Harry watched as a man in the advanced group, who had done remarkably well, slipped away and made his way towards the intermediate group. Harry was curious about this and observed from a distance since he had been rather positive that this man definitely deserved to be in the advanced group.

He was wearing the standard black robes but his hood was down and his mask was off. He looked to be about the same age as Barty, which would suggest that he joined Voldemort towards the end of the last war, and right out of Hogwarts. He was a large, stocky man with a thick neck, a square face, strong jaw, and short-cropped blond hair.

Harry watched as he began to speak to several of the people in the intermediate group, a few of which were younger wizards that Harry knew had only just recently joined. The man seemed to be demonstrating a proper duelers stance to a couple of them and gesturing with his hands as he explained something.

The younger wizards nodded their head and resumed their duel, with visibly improved success. The man continued to watch the duels for a moment before making his way over to another dueling group and speaking to them again, clearly giving instruction.

Harry turned and walked towards Voldemort, who was watching the advanced group carefully.

"My Lord," Harry said, bowing his head slightly and drawing Voldemort's attention to him. He turned and looked at Harry expectantly.

"Yes, Evan?"

"I'm curious about that man over, there," Harry paused, turned, and pointed towards the stocky blond Death Eater who was still instructing some of the Intermediate group. "Who is he?"

Voldemort looked over and watched for a moment before responding. "That is Thorfinn Rowle. I believe he is a private tutor and a professional dueler."

"Is that so? Not that surprising really. He did quite well in the Advanced group duels earlier but he wandered over there and started giving tips to the younger recruits."

"It is likely that he tutored many of them. He is often hired by the old families to teach their children dueling and the Dark Arts. He's a dueling champion, in fact."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "It might not be a bad idea to have him come in for the other classes to help with the training."

Voldemort nodded. "Agreed."

They split up again and resumed their observations. After a while, Voldemort began having specific individuals go up against each other so he could observe them. He had different people perform specific curses, or at least try, since there were quite a few who were incapable of doing certain spells. He also, at one point, had everyone demonstrate a few specific advanced spells, like Imperio, Crucio, and the Patronus, to show if they could or could not actually cast them.

Harry was stunned at just how many of those gathered couldn't cast a bloody Patronus! He'd learned it when he was thirteen years old for Merlin's sake! But Voldemort quietly explained to Harry that the Patronus was a high level Light magic spell and the act of practicing it at a young age would actually affect a person's magical affinity so few Dark families were inclined to teach it to their children for fear of tainting their magic. It gave Harry pause for a moment and he wondered, suddenly, if his months of constant practice of the spell during his third year was the cause of his affinity having been Light a year earlier.

In the end, the 'beginner' group had grown in size but not nearly as much as Harry and Voldemort had feared. It was good to know that, even in times of peace, many of the Death Eaters had managed to keep up their battle skills or at least their spell repertoire. They would still need some physical conditioning but that was part of the point of the training.

The portfolio that Harry had brought in had a sheet of paper with the name and basic information of every one of Voldemort's Death Eaters, and after the various duels and tests, Voldemort, Harry, and Barty sat down and sorted through them, making note of which group each person was sorted into.

It was obvious from a few tightly concealed glares that there were those among the crowd that were jealous of 'Evan' and Barty's high positions at Voldemort's side. Harry was sure that Lucius Malfoy was distinctly annoyed that he wasn't getting any preferential treatment when he had been one of Voldemort's most trusted followers during the last war. Of course, he was already on thin ice after his utter failure with the diary, so he wasn't about to speak out, or even openly display his displeasure.

Voldemort explained to the three groups when they should come to the manor, and what tasks they should perform on their own to prepare.

It was after dinner before things were finally drawn to a close and as the gathered Death Eaters began to shuffle and prepare to leave, Voldemort called out. "Rowle, stay behind."

The man in question looked up with a blank mask and nodded his head curtly to indicate that he had heard.

"The rest of you are dismissed," Voldemort called out finally and stood along with Harry and Barty, who were still flipping through some of the profile papers, making notes of each person's skill level, weaknesses, and what specific things they had observed so far that those individuals would need to work on.

Thorfinn Rowle came up to the group, bent down onto one knee and bowed his head as he came to a stop before Voldemort. "Yes, my Lord? How may I serve you?"

"You may stand," Voldemort said easily and the stocky man did just that. "I observed you lending your assistance to the others during the duels and practice sessions. I believe that your profession is that of a dueling and defense instructor, correct?"

"That is correct, my Lord," Rowle said. His voice was low and a bit gravely.

"I want you to come in for all of the meetings, will that be a problem for you?"

"Of course not, my Lord. My schedule is quite open at the moment as I'm only tutoring one student this summer."

"I want you to assist, especially with the weak and the intermediate classes, in teaching and preparing my followers for battle. Evan, Barty, and I will be meeting the afternoon after next to make additional plans to the training sessions. I want you to join us."

"Yes, my Lord!" Rowle said eagerly and Harry could see the excited glow hidden in the man's stony face.

A bit more time was spent discussing some things before Rowle and Barty were dismissed. Harry and Tom had a late dinner before retiring to the study. Tom spent the next hour going through the profiles and adding in more notes about his observations of each of their skill levels. While he did this, Harry used the side of Tom's desk to do some more Runes revision before shifting to working on the Transfiguration essay that McGonagall had assigned for the summer holidays. He already had his charms and potions essays completed and, since he was dropping Divination, he didn't actually have to worry about that class.

He knew that, even if he couldn't get the whole runes and Arithmancy classes thing to work, there was still no way he hell he was going back to Trelawney's class.

Harry knew that Mixey had made a trip to the post box in France that day so he called her in, once he was done with his class work, and had her bring him the mail. Harry sorted through his mail while Tom moved onto sorting through some reports from his Death Eaters who worked for the Ministry.

The letters were mostly more of the same. Hermione was still obviously glowing from her wonderful vacation in Italy and Greece with the Krum family but she was also obviously bummed that Viktor was now gone and she really didn't know when she'd see him next. She and her parents were still out of the country but would be returning to England in another week.

Ginny's letter was practically explosive in her excitement and worry about Harry and his mystery boyfriend having been seen and photographed in Diagon Alley. She noted that the guy Harry had been photographed kissing, was rather cute and she commended Harry on his attractive catch then insisted that he had to share some information with her about the mystery boy now. He laughed quietly to himself as he read it. She was also incredibly curious about why Harry was meeting with the Minister of all people.

The twin's letter was, again, the most useful of the lot since they were still clearly making every effort to listen in on any and all Order meetings that were held at their house. The Prophet article about Harry having spent an afternoon in Diagon Alley had apparently really caused quite the ruckus with the Order. The day the article came out they had called some sort of emergency meeting to discuss it. The bit about Harry having met with the Minister was bewildering to all of them, but the fact that Harry was clearly alive and well, and kissing strange unknown boys in London!, did, at least, calm some fears about Harry having been kidnapped.

The twins also informed Harry that the Order now officially had a headquarters and that the Weasley's were supposed to be going there in a few days to help clean the place up.

Ron's letter was short and rather pointless. Basically just telling Harry about all the boring things that Ron had been doing around the Burrow, his frustration with all of the unknown adults around the house and all the secrets they were keeping from the kids. There was a very short blurb about everyone freaking out over Harry's picture being in the Prophet and asking him what he was doing having tea with the Minister for Magic.

Harry wrote his response to the twins first, thanking them for the information and telling them to keep it coming. He was eager to find out about this 'headquarters'. He noted how stupid he thought it was that Dumbledore's secret organization to fight against Voldemort was wasting their time trying to hunt him down even after he's assured all of his friends, and Dumbledore himself, that he's safe and happy right where he was.

He also spent a few paragraphs detailing an idea for a prank item that he'd come up with that would make use of some of the runes he'd been studying.

He got Ron's letter out of the way fast. Just a simple response saying that he was having loads of fun, but that he'd also been slowly making his way through his summer homework. He said that the Minister had set up the meeting with them back at the Tri-Wizard tournament and that it had seemed rude to refuse.

Next, he focused on Ginny's letter. Here he paused with his quill hovering over the parchment debating with himself, internally. Finally, he began.

Dear Ginny,

Thanks for your letter. Don't worry about me being upset or anything about having been photographed in public. I knew the Prophet's photographer was around somewhere and it was bound to happen while I was there. I suppose I owe you some details since I went and let things get exposed in the paper.

My boyfriend's name is Nicodemus. He actually isn't a student at Hogwarts, or Beauxbatons, or Durmstrang. In fact, he was actually home-schooled and completed his OWLs and NEWTs at the Ministry. He worked and lived in Hogsmeade this last year while he was studying for his NEWTs and I met him one time while I was sneaking out of the school. He worked as a stockboy for Honeyduke's, and, do you know about the secret passage that leads from Hogwarts to the cellar of Honeyduke's? Well... there is one, and I was using it the first time I ran into Nick. He and I got to talking then things just kind of went from there.

So I guess that blows all the bets, yeah? Not in any of the houses or any of the three schools. Heh... Getting away with Nick was great though. To him I'm not the Boy-Who-Lived, or Harry Bloody Potter. I'm just Harry. He gets me. I know I swore to Hermione that I wasn't sneaking out of the school, so I'm sure she's going to be angry with me for lying about that. The truth is that I rarely left the tunnel or Honeyduke's cellar when Nick and I did meet up, so I was only just barely sneaking out of the school. Mostly we just wrote letters back and forth all year using this charmed paper. The sneaking out happened mostly towards the end when we ended up meeting in the tunnel and snogging.

So anyway, Nick and I are spending the summer in his families ancestral home in France. He inherited it last winter when he turned seventeen. Yes, I know he's older than me, but it's only a couple years, so who cares, really? And Viktor is 17, so Hermione certainly can't get on my case for dating an older guy, can she? I guess this qualifies as giving out too much sensitive information but I'm confident that even if Dumbledore knew about Nick and that I'm staying at his families home he still couldn't find me. The house is unplottable and behind a mountain of wards.

The meeting with the Minister was actually arranged back right before the third task of the tournament. He asked me if I'd like to join him for tea at some point over the summer and it seemed rude to refuse so I told him to owl me and I'd see what I could do. He did send an owl a couple weeks ago and I agreed. So that's why I was in Diagon Alley. Nick went with me, we used side-along apparition, and had a really fun day.

We finally decided to just say 'screw it' to public opinion and figured we'd go out in public and just take things as they came at us. Nick says that he's proud to be with me and doesn't care about any press insanity he will have to face because of us being out in the open. His parents are actually both dead. He was raised by his godmother, and she died last year. He has some distant family and they would all deeply disapprove of him being gay but he says he doesn't care, saying they can all go to hell. I know this doesn't mesh 100% with what I told you guys but I had my reasons, and I promise to explain better when we meet at the start of term.

Nick is really great. It's been an amazing summer. We're probably going to make a few more random trips out over the next month or so, but for the most part we're just staying in.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm boring you to death, so I'll cut this off. From your brothers it sounds like you all might be spending the rest of the summer somewhere other than the Burrow. Hope it interesting at least. I'll write again later.

Bye Gin!

Harry

Harry had Tom read over the letter before he sealed it into an envelope just to make sure he hadn't revealed anything that could cause them trouble later on. Tom felt that everything revealed served a purpose and didn't actually pose any risks. By the time Harry was done with Ginny's letter, the night was drawing to a close and Tom was finished up with his work so Harry decided to put off writing Hermione's letter till the next day.

Tom and Harry hurried through their morning routine the next day because they were expecting another large group of visitors to the manor at noon. Not as big as the full Death Eater meeting the day before but still sizable.

Karkaroff was coming today with a group of graduates from Durmstrang. Some who had only just graduated this year, as well as several who had graduated during the last few years. All of them interested and willing to join the Death Eaters.

Tom intended to interview each of them to see where their strengths lie, what their family and political connections were then if they were worth anything to him as more than just battle foot soldiers. He also intended to test to see where their skills lay so that he could determine which of the training classes they should be joining with the rest of the Death Eaters.

Karkaroff was bringing them, then the group would be led by Barty, into one of the large sitting rooms on the first floor to wait. Karkaroff would go to Voldemort in the conference room with the papers detailing each of the prospective candidates and go over a quick briefing. Then the witches and wizards would be called in, one at a time.

While all of this was going on, Harry was supposed to observe those waiting in the sitting room and try and get a feel for each of them, as well as their motives for wanting to join.

"You want me to spy on them?" Harry had asked when Tom had first told him of his plans.

"Yes, Harry. People are likely to expose certain things to their peers when they do not think that they are being watched too carefully. Things that they would not expose to me. Things that I consider important."

"Okay... so... how exactly do you want me to do this?"

"I was thinking, at first at least, you could use your serpentine transformation again."

Harry nodded his head slowly as he thought about this. "Alright, but isn't there a chance that having a huge poisonous sea serpent in the room with them is likely to set them on edge?"

Tom had laughed at that. "Most likely, yes. Although I will have Barty tell them not to mind the snake when he leads them into the sitting room to wait."

Harry shrugged. "Alright. It shouldn't be a problem."

And so that was what was happening now. Harry, already in his sea krait form, was laying on the floor beneath one of the large old sofas in the sitting room while Barty greeted Karkaroff and his former students in the entry hall.

A minute later, the group of 12 different young wizards and witches began to fill the spacious sitting room. Barty stood at the door as they all filed in. Once the last of them had entered the room, he told them that they would be called one at a time for a personal interview with the Dark Lord and that they would wait in that room until that time. The young people all seemed to buzz with a mixture of nervous excitement and fear at this prospect. Barty told them that, since Karkaroff still needed to have his briefing with the Dark Lord first, it would likely be at least twenty minutes before the first one was called in, so they should get comfortable. Just before he was about to leave the room, he turned back and called out for them not to worry about the snake. He wouldn't hurt them.

This announcement had caused the group to look around with wide, fear-filled eyes searching for this snake the Death Eater had spoke of. Harry took that moment to slither out from under the couch, climb up the side and begin lounging along the back instead. The two young men who were sitting on the couch jumped up at the movement and one girl yelped a bit as she backed away from the couch, several feet.

Barty had chuckled at all of their reactions. He told them that if anyone hurt the snake, they'd face the Dark Lord's wraith because he was a prized pet, and then he walked out the door, closing it behind him.

The group remained tense as they all stared at the enormous black-and-white striped snake.

"Do you think it's poisonous?" a girl who looked to be about twenty asked in a quiet whisper to a young man who was standing beside her.

"It belongs to the Dark Lord, of course it's poisonous!" he hissed back sharply.

"It is poisonous. Dat's a Sea Krait," another man said as he nodded his head towards the serpent. "Eets huge doh. I've never zeen one zo big! Dey don't geet that big on der own."

"Vell obviously da Dark Lord used magic on it," a girl with a rather low voice said sarcastically.

"Shut up, Sofiko! Vat da Headmaster vas dinking bring you here, I don't know. Vhat good vill you be to da Dark Lord?"

"Go to hell, Sergei! The Dark Lord vill –"

"Vould the both of you just shut up!" a third man yelled, instantly quieting the two arguing. Harry realized that he recognized that voice and turned his head to see the tall, imposing form of Viktor Krum standing in the center of the room, scowling at the two who had been bickering.

"Ve vill likely be here a while and I vould rather not spend it listening to da two of you yelling at each other!" Krum continued, sneering and cowing the other two. Harry found this rather impressive since the two that had been arguing were clearly older than Krum, who had only just graduated.

The room was tense and quiet for a minute before Krum huffed in annoyance and took a few purposeful strides towards the abandoned couch that housed Harry's serpentine form. Krum roughly sat down on the couch, ignoring the large snake and crossing one leg over the other knee.

The two that had been arguing shot each other hateful glares before splitting up and standing on opposite sides of the room. The collected people all seemed to separate off into groups of acquaintances and friends. Some were obviously classmates or friends of each other, and those people began talking quietly amongst each other while others stood or sat solitary in various parts of room room.

Another young man that looked to be about the same age as Krum, and who Harry vaguely recognized, came and sat, albeit reluctantly, beside Krum on the couch. His head kept turning slightly and his eyes were cautiously trained on the snake for several moments before he turned to Krum.

"I haff to admit, I'm surprised you're here," the young man said quietly.

Krum turned and narrowed his eyes at the boy, giving him a long hard look for a minute before speaking.

"Oh? And vhy iz dat?"

"Vell, everyone knows that you're dating that mudblood."

Krum's wand was drawn at pointed at the other man's throat before he had even had a chance to recognize that Krum had moved. He flinched back and stared, wide eyed at the Bulgarian quidditch star.

"Don't ever use dat word around me!" Krum hissed in a low, threatening voice.

The other man held up his hands in surrender, trying to calm Krum down. "Alright, alright. Calm down! But... I mean, you've sort of proven my point, haffen't you?"

"Vhat point?" Krum spat.

"Vell, mud... muggleborns aren't exactly very popular vis zhe Dark Lord, now are they?"

"Zhe headmaster told me dhat the Dark Lord's plans have changed. He is not hunting down zhe muggleborns."

"And vhat if da Headmaster is wrong?"

"I intend to ask zhe Dark Lord vhen I zee him."

The other boy blinked at Krum. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I vant to know," Krum said, holding his head high. "If the Dark Lord plans to hunt down all of zhe muggleborns, or start killing zee the muggles, than I vill not join."

"You are out of your mind," the boy said, leaning back on the couch and relaxing more for a moment until he felt the thick snake body behind his head and sat forward, his eyes darting fearfully towards the snake for a moment before cautiously refocusing on Krum.

"Zhe Dark Lord is supposed to fight for those of Dark Magic. Protect us and our rights. England is a corrupt mess. Dhey are so biased towards the Light it is sickening. I would not haff cared, but my love is here. Diss is her home, so vhat happens here matters to me now. If zhe Dark Lord is going to fix zhe mess dhat has become of England's magical laws, dhen I vill stand behind him," Krum said with absolute conviction.

Impressed, Harry listened on for a few minutes longer before slithering off the back of the couch and scaring the living shit out of the boy that Krum had been sitting with in the process then moved on to listen to a few of the other conversing groups. There were a couple boys who Harry learned seemed to only be there because they wanted a 'license to kill'. Basically, they were looking for action and thought that they'd get it with the Death Eaters. Not ideal followers, since their eagerness would likely lead them to make stupid mistakes, but he knew that Tom wouldn't turn them away either. If it came down to a huge battle where sheer numbers would matter, every wand they could get would help. Still, he would recommend to Tom that they never be involved in anything terribly important.

There was another boy that Harry was instantly wary of. His sole reason for being there was his desire to kill muggle and muggleborns. That was it. He had no other reasoning behind his decision to join. He had heard stories of groups of Death Eaters raiding muggle villages in the last war. Having their way with the women then burning down and slaughtering dozens of stupid filthy muggles.

Harry knew that this one would be a liability. The second he was marked, he would go out and try to 'have some fun'. The last thing they wanted was to draw the attention of the muggles to magic, and this stupid idiot would likely do just that.

After about twenty minutes Barty came in, looked around the room for a moment before finding Harry underneath a coffee table. They met eyes, Barty nodded his head and then left the room again. The group of gathered potential Death Eaters looked at each other in confusion but Harry instantly began to slither towards a vent in the wall. He nudged it open with his nose and climbed through. He quickly made his way through the walls and directly to the conference room where Voldemort was currently seated. He was the only one in the room and was clearly expecting Harry. As soon as Harry was completely out of the vent, he transformed back into his human form and sat down at the table. He began to relate everything that he had learned, including his impressions of Krum, the ones just looking for action, and the one out for muggle blood.

They kept their chat short and Harry transformed back into his serpent form and lounged around Voldemort's shoulders, which he found he enjoyed immensel, so that Voldemort could begin his interviews. Barty brought them in, one by one, and Harry quietly hissed additional observations and opinions on each one. Several of them looked at the snake with wide, startled eyes, when they came into the room and found him now lounging across the Dark Lord's shoulders.

When Harry and Voldemort hissed in obvious conversation, some sort of dawning understanding seemed to pass through their eyes, but none commented on it.

Krum's interview was especially interesting. The guy had guts, Harry would give him that. He had actually asked, point blank, what Voldemort intended to do about muggleborns. Wanting to know if there were going to be muggle hunting raids or attacks on muggleborns and their families. Harry knew that Voldemort would have likely cursed the boy for his attitude if it weren't for Harry having expressed such interest in his joining, and having also made note that Krum being a Death Eater could be useful to Harry when he got back to Hogwarts.

So, instead, Voldemort tolerated Krum's questions and answered them with surprising honesty. Muggles were filth but muggleborns are still witches and wizards so their magical blood must still be protected. Any actions that would draw unwanted attention from the muggles to the magical races of the world were to be avoided at all costs. Absolute separation from the muggle world was the goal. Attacks upon muggles would be counter-productive and, as such, would be avoided at all costs. Any Death Eaters who attacked muggles without authorization would be punished.

The goal was to gain control of Britain's wizarding government, by force only if necessary. The goal was to rewrite the magical laws and restructure how their world fundamentally worked. Much of that would be done slowly through reeducation of the populace via propaganda. Part of that reeducation would involve changing how the magical populace viewed muggleborns.

In the end, Krum seemed optimistic although he barely showed it. He kept his emotions mostly in check and Harry could tell Voldemort was impressed with the boy.

Once all of the individual interviews were complete, the one out for muggle blood was dismissed, while the rest of the group of prospective Death Eaters were led into the ballroom where Voldemort put them each through a couple duels with each other and magical demonstration.

In the end, all of them, save one, was told to come for the intermediate sessions. The one that was told to come to the beginner session was a girl who had only graduated this year. Harry suspected that Tom wouldn't have kept her at all if not for her parent's powerful British political connections.

By the time everyone left, it was time for dinner. Harry and Tom retreated to the dinning room and Mixey brought in their meal. They spoke lightly over dinner, debating which of the new recruits had the most promise and which would need the most work.

"I wonder if I should reveal myself to Krum," Harry said as he set down his glass of butterbeer after finishing his meal.

"Why would you do that?" Tom asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Well, I probably wouldn't reveal Evan Harris as me, of course, but I mean, I wonder if I should let Krum know that Harry Potter is on his side. He and I could work on Hermione from two different angles. I'm sure he's going to be trying to open her mind even more."

"I was under the impression that you weren't terribly fond of this girl anymore."

"I'm... torn, honestly. She could prove to be either a great ally or an incredibly bothersome nuisance. If anyone is likely to figure me out at Hogwarts, it's her. She's around me all the time, she clever, observant, and she's persistent. I know she's already suspicious about my change over the last year but I was able to keep milking her guilt to get her to back off and give me some space. I doubt that will stick this year," Harry said before pausing and looking thoughtful. "You know back when I had you teach me the counter to the affinity detection spell? You know what my biggest motivation for that was?"

"Hmm?"

"Hermione," Harry said with a firm nod. "If anyone would start to suspect me of going Dark, I knew it would be her. She would be the first one to start really seeing the symptoms for what they were and she would use that spell to confirm her hypothesis. She also knows that the affinity detection spell exists, and I wouldn't, for an instant, doubt her ability to cast it. I read her mind several times over the last few months of term and I know she was already starting to guess and worry about my behavior, but she kept convincing herself that it was absurd, and dismissing it. That won't last much longer. If I can get her on my side, then it won't matter. In fact, I can get her to cover for me."

Tom nodded slowly as he swirled his sifter glass of brandy. "And do you honestly think you can convince her?"

Harry sighed and sat back in his chair. "Honestly? I have no idea. I think I may be able to convince her that Dark magic isn't evil magic, but convince her to join the Death Eaters? Hah... yeah, that would be a lot harder. If not impossible. But as far as getting her to broaden her perception of Dark Magic... yeah, maybe. But I know It would be a lot easier if she had more than one source feeding her alternative views on the nature of Dark Magic. If Krum is playing his role while I'm working on her from another angle, then it'll improve our chances. Of course, the best thing would be if an adult authority figure was added into the mix because Hermione has this obscene level of respect for authority figures but the chances of that happening are slim-to-none."

Tom nodded his head and the two continued on in their conversation for a while longer before they went down into Tom's basement potions lab. Tom had been working off-and-on on some dueling dummies that he'd been designing. They'd tested out some of the early prototypes during their dueling sessions but, for the ones that would be used in the Death Eater training, Tom needed to make adjustments. Harry mostly observed, but helped where he could. He was excited that his new rudimentary understanding of Arithmancy made the spell creation aspects easier to understand, even if it was still way over his head.

Tom explained things as he went, which Harry appreciated, and kept the whole thing more interesting. The pair were up, late into the night, making the final adjustments to the final prototype. The next day would involve the planning meeting with Barty and Rowle but the rest of the day would be spent on mass producing the other dummies. Fortunately, once the first one was completed, the duplicates would be a lot faster.

The next morning they had their usual morning workout followed by a shared shower that managed to de-evolve into an enthusiastic snogging session under the water. That was immediately followed by Harry finding himself pressed flat against the cold wet tile wall as Tom roughly held Harry's wrists over his head with one hand, while stroking his length with his other, and pounding into him from behind. All the while Harry moaned and gasped, screaming for more, more, and harder, and Yes! Yes! Yes! and Oh Merlin, Fuck yes!

The two had completed simultaneously with a cacophony of pleasure and sensation, which had become the norm, undoubtedly because of the link, and they then finished up the shower with a much slower, less frantic pace than everything had started. Harry was always amazed how delicately Tom treated him directly after sex. How reverently he held him, and caressed him. Especially since it was a significant contrast to how rough they usually were when they were intimate. Not that Harry minded the rough sex. He found he rather preferred it that way, although the one time that they'd gone slow had been... wonderful, as well.

The two finally exited the shower, dried off, got dressed, and went down to the dining room for breakfast. Mixey popped in with two copies of the Daily Prophet and Harry aimlessly trailed his eyes over the front page as he picked up a piece of toast. It froze mid-air before it even touched his lips as he saw the headline.

HARRY POTTER, MISSING?

By Betty Braithwaite

It has come to the attention of this reporter through a trusted source from within the Ministry that The-Boy-Who-Lived has gone missing! No one except for a very select few know exactly where Harry Potter lives during the summers away from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as the dwelling is secreted away from the wizarding world to protect our boy-savior from those who would wish him harm, but it has long been rumored that Harry Potter's home is in the Muggle World with relatives of his muggleborn mother.

One of those few people who are in-the-know of Harry Potter's summer living arrangements is Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the man who is purportedly responsible for the boy's placement there, and my source tells me that in recent weeks the esteemed Headmaster has been trying to covertly track the Boy-Who-Lived down without drawing unwanted attention to the fact that young Harry Potter has slipped between his fingers. My source tells me that Mr. Potter apparently never returned to his muggle relatives home this summer and has proven difficult to track down by even the Supreme Mugwump's most desperate measures, thus forcing him to resort to seeking the assistance of the Ministry of Magic. The Ministry's Department of Law Enforcement staff has been asked to report, as soon as possible, any sightings of the Boy-Who-Lived to Albus Dumbledore, and apparently several Aurors have been recruited in trying to track him down.

Some would ask what if Harry has been kidnapped by some of those mentioned who would wish him harm? However, I would point out to those of you who would ask this that he was clearly perfectly healthy, and apparently quite happy when he made his surprise appearance in Diagon Alley little more than a week ago with that mysterious young man on his arm. Harry Potter did not appear to be there under duress or coercion, so it would seem that his absence from his relatives is not a situation that has occurred against his will.

When asked to comment on Harry Potter's rumored absence, the Ministry's official spokesperson insisted that Mr. Potter is safe and secure in his relatives home and that there is nothing to worry about but my source says otherwise. When I asked my source for his opinion on this he made his opinions quite clear on the matter, suggesting that Mr. Harry Potter is exerting his own rebellious side and wriggling his way out from underneath the oppressive thumb of Albus Dumbledore.

I must tell you, my loyal readers, that this statement sparked quite a bit of my interest, and I'm sure it would spark yours as well, so I asked my source why would Harry Potter want to rebel against Albus Dumbledore? While my source could not comment on any specifics, he suggested that perhaps the Boy-Who-Lived isn't quite as comfortable with his summer living arrangements as we have so often been led to believe.

Could Harry Potter's sudden absence be a sign of the Boy-Who-Lived rebelling against the great Headmaster of Hogwarts? And there are those who would question, what right does said headmaster have to dictate the Boy-Who-Lived summer living conditions anyway?

Important questions that must be asked, and need to be answered! I promise you, my faithful readers, that I will not rest until I have uncovered the truth behind this most fascinating story of intrigue.

Harry reread the article twice before setting it down and frowning at his plate.

"Well, this wasn't entirely unexpected," Tom said with a slightly annoyed sigh.

Harry looked up and blinked at Tom in mild confusion. "It's not?"

"I didn't honestly expect Dumbledore to recruit the Ministries official assistance so soon, but I knew it would happen eventually and that once it did happen it was only a matter of time before it was leaked. The Ministry is incapable of keeping anything secret. Even the Unspeakables are incapable of keeping everything secret. I should know," he paused and smirked, "seeing as how I've got two among my followers and they're more than willing to share the details of their work with me."

Harry managed to smirk lightly before he sighed and looked back down at the paper. He picked up his toast again and began to slowly eat. Harry's eyes were distant and unfocused and Tom watched him with mild concern, but also curiosity. There was clearly something going on behind those bright green eyes.

"Tom..." Harry began slowly after the pair had sat and eaten in silence for at least ten minutes.

"Yes, love?" Tom said, looking up from the Daily Prophet that he had continued to read, and setting his fork down. Tom smirked slightly at the faint pink that appeared on Harry's cheeks and the way the corners of Harry's mouth turned up at the pet name.

"I was thinking," Harry began, going back to looking thoughtful, "What do you think about me milking this?"

Tom rose a single questioning eyebrow. "Explain."

"I'm talking about working the public opinion angle. What about me contacting that reporter and offering her an exclusive interview?"

"Go on."

Harry wrote a couple letters while Tom worked on the dueling dummies down in the lab. One was to the Minister, asking for a slightly less public location for their meeting in two days, and another letter to the reporter from the Prophet. Once they were done, Tom read over them before Harry called in Mixey and sent her off with the letters.

Tom and Harry spent the majority of the day working on the dummies until it was finally time for Barty and Thorfinn Rowle to arrive.

Harry waited in the entry hall and greeted Barty when he arrived. Barty went on to the conference room where Tom was already waiting with all of the files on each of the individual Death Eaters and their skill levels as well as the notes and plans that he had already made for the training classes. Harry stayed in the entry hall and waited for another two minutes before Thor showed up.

Harry nodded to the man as soon as he had his barrings again. "Rowle," Harry said in greeting.

"Harris," Thor replied with a curt nod of his head. He looked over Harry for the briefest of moments. Harry wasn't wearing black Death Eater robes nor his mask. He was, of course, wearing his glamor ring, so to Rowle Harry appeared his early-twenty-something self with long blond hair, tied back in a low pony tail, and bright blue eyes. He was wearing a casual front-open wizard robe of obviously fine quality that was a sort of deep-red color with intricate black threading along the collar and hems. Beneath the open over-robe, Harry had black slacks and a fitted black shirt that was rather tight against his skin with clean trim lines sewn into it.

Rowle had come in the standard black Death Eater robes, but his hood was down and he hadn't bothered with his mask.

"Feel free to call me Evan," Harry said easily as he turned and began to make his way towards the hallway.

"Alright," Rowle said as he quickly matched Harry's pace and walked just behind his right side. "Call me Thor, then."

Harry rose a single eyebrow, sightly amused by the shortened version of Thorfinn's name. "Fine by me."

They were quiet for a moment before Thor spoke again. "Forgive me for asking, but I'm curious where exactly your dueling skills lie. I didn't see you participate in any of the duels during the meeting the other day."

"I'm fairly good, I guess. The Dark Lord has been personally training me for the last four months so that's got to count for something. But I won't claim to be on par with someone whose been competing professionally for a decade."

Thor rose a single eyebrow but his eyes shown with a spark of intrigue. "Personal lessons from the Dark Lord, eh? I'd be lying if I claimed to not be curious as to how exactly you came to be in your unique position. Apprentice is what he called you, was it not?"

"That is correct. As for how I came to be in my position, it's a rather lengthy story. Let's just say that I played a crucial role in his return and call it good at that."

Thor did not look like 'leaving it at that' curbed his curiosity in the slightest, but they had reached the door of the conference room, so the man didn't have a chance to inquire further.

The meeting lasted a little over an hour and a half. They had managed to plan out exactly how the first few weeks of training sessions would progress in a fair amount of detail, and had a vague overview of what would be covered after that. Thor, Barty, and Harry were going to be both participants and instructors of the Advanced group, but would just be instructors for the two lesser groups. Fortunately, none of them had anywhere else to be during the summer, so there wouldn't be any conflicts in their schedules with the large number of classes.

The advanced group would only meet once a week, while the intermediate group would meet twice a week and the weaker group would meet three days a week. This only left one day a week where there wouldn't be a training session going on in the manor. Harry knew the remainder of his summer was going to be very full. At least the training would only take up one to two hours each day, and he had, had daily training for months anyway, so it wasn't that big a change.

The next day Harry received replies from both the Minister and Betty Braithwaite, the reporter from the Daily Prophet. The Minister was perfectly fine with meeting somewhere less public and suggested a little coffee shop that was actually just a block from the Ministry of Magic building in downtown London. It was a muggle coffee shop though and it was rather rare for any witches or wizards to frequent the place.

Betty Braithwaite was beyond ecstatic at the prospect of an exclusive interview with the elusive Boy-Who-Refused-to-Give-Interviews. Harry wrote back to suggest the time and location for their meeting. It would take place three hours after Harry's scheduled meeting with the Minister. And, again, the meeting was arranged to take place in a muggle establishment in downtown London. In this case, they would be using a private meeting room at a local ritzy hotel several blocks down from the coffee shop. Tom had recommended the place once he had learned about the London location for his meeting with the Minister, and while Harry finished preparing his letter back to Betty, Tom had Apparated to London to arrange and pay for the room reservation.

That night was the first training session, and this one was for the lowest class group. It was entirely pathetic in Harry's mind, especially since quite a few of the people in attendance were older Death Eaters who had participated in the first war. Pettigrew was there and Harry had taken a couple opportunities to 'demonstrate' different curses on the fat little bastard just for his own amusement.

The dummies were brought out and everyone was set to the task of shooting off curses at them. They were on the easiest setting. Totally immobile. Nothing more than targets, really. But half the people present seemed to have trouble hitting even an immobile target.

Pathetic.

Harry found himself sneering in disgust most of the night. Barty was equally unimpressed and Voldemort hung back, observing with an obvious air of angry discontent. If it weren't for Thor, it was unlikely that any of the pathetic excuses for wizards present would have left without suffering the cruciatus. Harry was definitely glad he'd suggested that Thor be included. It was obvious the man was used to teaching totally incompetent idiots. Rather, the man was used to teaching children who barely had a hold on their magic yet. Harry wondered which was worse to try and teach. 40-something-year old, fat, lazy, wizards with pathetic power levels, worthless spell repertoires, shitty aim, and oversized egos or 10-year old children.

The next day began as any other, and Harry and Tom went through their usual morning routine, had breakfast, got a little work done, and then went up to their bedroom to prepare for a day in muggle London. They both managed to find slacks and shirts that could pass for 'muggle enough'. Tom was in smooth, loose black slacks, and a silken maroon long-sleeved button-down shirt. He left the top two buttons unbuttoned and Harry had smirked at the exposed bit of chest and his hand had twitched with the desire as he was filled with the urge to lick the pale skin he saw there.

Tom had sensed the lustful desires through the link that had been steadily growing stronger the more time passed then had roughly claimed Harry's lips and slammed him against the wall. The pair had snogged rather heavily for a couple long minutes before they pulled apart, panting heavily, and grinning madly at each other. Harry pushed Tom away then walked over to his desk where he had a shirt and pants laid out over the back of his chair. He looked back and laughed at the look on Tom's face. Tom actually looked like he was about to pout but he quickly schooled his expression into a mild, teasing scowl at Harry's obvious amusement.

Harry dressed in a pair of rather snug blue jeans that he had purchased in Hogsmeade during the last school year. He loved how tight they were. It was such a contrast to the years and years of loose, poor-fitting, hand-me-downs from his fat whale of a cousin. In addition to the jeans, Harry had slipped on a snug black t-shirt, again from his purchases in Hogsmeade.

After pulling the shirt over his head, Harry turned around to find Tom staring at him with hungry eyes, obviously pleased with what he saw. Harry laughed, causing Tom's eyes to smile back at him. Harry loved that look. It was a look that Harry knew only he ever got to see. True, happy, smiling eyes. With a small crinkle of crows feet at the corners and that spark of amusement that wasn't cruel or sadistic in any way. A happiness that Harry never saw in the man's face at any other point in time. That look was just for him.

In the end it seemed a miracle that the pair of them managed to leave the manor on time, considering how many times they had gotten distracted.

Tom, once again, had on his glamor ring and was wearing the appearance of Nicodemus Tomaras, Harry's 'mystery boyfriend', while Harry had his ring removed.

Around the manor Harry rarely bothered to do anything special with his hair that had been growing at an oddly accelerated rate as of late. Tom suspected it was because a part of Harry wanted his hair to grow longer now, so it was. Harry had mentioned, at that point, about how through most of his youth his hair had always remained at the same length. How he had gone years without even needing a haircut. He had also told Tom the story about the time when he was rather young and his bitch of a muggle aunt had shaved his head but that by morning it had all grown back.

Tom had gotten a curious look in his eyes from listening to this story and seemed to be contemplating something. When Harry asked what it was he had shaken it off, suggesting that it wasn't terribly important yet, and he needed to look into some things so they could deal with it later.

But for the trip to London, Harry had finally bothered to do something with his messy long black hair. He had chin-length hair framing his face, while the hair on the back was about halfway down his neck. Harry used some light gel to force the hair in the front back over his head, not bothering with any sort of part, and tying the longest bits in the back into a very small tail.

Now the two of them were walking down the streets of muggle London, making their way towards the coffee shop. They were early by about twenty minutes and sat down in the coffee shop by the front window and sat there, looking out onto the street, people-watching. Mostly Tom just scoffed and snickered at the pathetic masses as they rushed through their daily muggle lives. Harry couldn't help but snicker and laugh at most of what Tom said.

Honestly, it was true. They were so ignorant of the things going on around them. So blind. And so weak. It would be so easily to just...

"Harry, my boy! There you are!" the sound of Cornelius Fudge's voice pulled Harry out of his musings so he jerked up and swiftly turned his head. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!" Fudge continued as Harry stood up and greeted the Minister for Magic while insisting that he hadn't been waiting all that long, and he really hadn't minded the wait, anyway. He introduced Fudge to 'Nicodemus' again, and Fudge had actually asked, albeit reluctantly, if Nick would like to join them for their tea.

'Nick' had refused, saying that this was a meeting scheduled between Harry and the Minister so he would be back later. He stood up, bent over and gave Harry a quick kiss before whispering in Harry's ear that he would remain close by before he righted himself again and said goodbye to the Minister.

Harry knew that Tom would just change his glamor and come back into the coffee shop then sit towards the back. He would be casting privacy charms for them as well as listening in.

Harry quickly refocused on the Minister and the two ordered drinks.

While making small talk with the Minister, Harry mentioned how curious it was to him that it was already July 23rd, and he still had yet to receive his letter and supply list from Hogwarts. He expected it any day, of course, but it would have been convenient for it to have arrived already so that he could get his shopping done while he was in London.

The Minister replied with a dramatic roll of his eyes, explaining that the list couldn't be sent out to the students until all of the teachers had turned in their book lists, but since Hogwarts was still short one Defense teacher, that wasn't yet possible. He then went on a rant about how Dumbledore was utterly incapable of keeping his staff consistent. Every year, the man ranted, the defense position ends up empty! Every year! He did pause long enough to put on a mock sadness over the last defense professor's unexpected demise before resuming his grumblings about Dumbledore.

He bemoaned the complaints he often got from the Department for Magical Education about the pathetic test results that were coming out of Hogwarts students in the Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL and NEWT tests. But who could blame the students for abysmal results in a subject when they were subjected to a new incompetent teacher every single year!

Harry enthusiastically agreed with the Minister, grumbling about the pathetic education he had received so far in the subject, and how much he had to put in extra study on his own in order to prepare for the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Fudge then spent a short bit of time enthusing about Harry's impressive performance, especially for someone so young and who had to deal with such unfortunately unsatisfactory education on the subject.

Fudge went on to say that, apparently, Dumbledore had yet to even receive any applicants for the Defense job nor had he managed to con anyone he had sought out into accepting the job. Apparently, there was some ridiculous superstition about the position being cursed. Fudge guffawed, saying that Dumbledore was just incompetent at hiring for the post.

Harry had chuckled and egged the Minister on at every opportunity.

Conversation then managed to move onto the article that had been printed in the Prophet a couple days earlier about Harry being missing. Fudge had, apparently, assumed that the reporter was just spouting garbage since he had heard no such thing about Harry Potter being missing and certainly nothing about Auror assistance being called in by Dumbledore but he had then gone into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement then managed to force someone to admit that it was in fact true. Dumbledore had discreetly come to them and had the assistance of a select few individuals that he apparently trusted more than others.

Harry suggested to the Minister that he find out exactly who these 'trusted individuals' were and keep a close watch on them. They could be dangerous. Fudge fervently agreed with that observation, but went on to confront Harry with his supposed 'missing' status.

Harry explained that he had gotten permission from his muggle relatives to spend the summer with Nick and he was most certainly not missing. The supposed problem was that he had refused to tell Dumbledore where he was going because, quite simply, it was none of his damn business.

Fudge had smirked smugly at this.

Harry went on, at that point, to complain for a while about all the various meddling that Dumbledore was constantly trying to do with Harry's private life. Always trying to weasel his way in and control the Boy-Who-Lived, both inside and outside of school. That the man seemed to believe that it was his right to dictate what Harry did, even when he wasn't at Hogwarts, and the headmaster had absolutely no jurisdiction or legal hold over Harry.

Sure, while he was at Hogwarts, Dumbledore was his magical guardian since he had no one else in the magical world to fill the responsibility but once school was no longer in session, Harry was the sole responsibility of his muggle guardians, and if they said that Harry could go stay with a friend then Harry could go stay with a friend.

Fudge seemed properly pleased that Harry was trying to step out from beneath Albus Dumbledore's overbearing shadow and told Harry he would do whatever he could to help Harry in his quest to stay where he saw fit over the summer, as long as it was properly safe.

Their meeting came to a close and Harry stood and shook the Minister's hand, thanking him for his time. As soon as Fudge was out the door and gone from sight, Harry was joined by a young man who, while physically was totally foreign to Harry, magically, he was more familiar than anyone else.

"Be right back," the glamored Tom whispered into Harry's ear before making his way into the cafe's bathroom. When he exited a moment later, he was in his Nicodemus glamor, although since Harry was keyed into it, he only saw the real Tom beneath it, and the pair left to do some light shopping while gradually making their way towards the hotel where Harry had his appointment with a certain Daily Prophet reporter.
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Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness