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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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Title: Rise of the Dark Angel

Author: Izzyb09

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

Chapter: 8: Consequences Part Two

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; NL (CL)/LL; RL/BL

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

A/N: this is the second half. Sorry about the limited H/D interaction, but like I said, T-i-C and I want to get some of the more serious stuff out of the way.

A/N 2: the outtakes and Additional Scenes, mostly from LV's POV, are called Shattered Illusions and can be found on Tonks-is-Cool profile page: fanfiction(dot)net/u/1957989—this is for the missing scenes that are in 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 and flashback

{Parssseltongue}

~…~ indicates scene change

O.P.D.: Sunday 19^thDecember, ‘10

Harry and the others arrived back at the Manor and he immediately let loose; they had landed in the Sitting Room, and he wandlessly through the chairs and tables against the wall. A scream tore from his throat before he fell to his knees. Through it all, the others watched him.

“Harry,” Draco moved the others and walked over to him. He knelt on the floor next to Harry and placed an arm around his shoulder.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Harry asked; his head was bowed and his voice was soft, but Draco heard the question.

“I never really thought about it,” Draco answered. “I knew father would deal with her and I think a part of me knew how you’d react, and I didn’t really want to ruin the day by telling you.”

“I thought only Gryffindors thought like that,” Harry muttered and Draco smiled because he knew Harry was moving past his anger.

“Slytherins do as well,” he replied. “But we call it strategic thinking.”

“Of course,” Harry chuckled as he raised his head to look at the blond. His eyes caught the bruise and they darkened slightly. He reached out a hand and gently touched it.

“It’s ok Harry,” Draco murmured. “You’ve made sure she’ll never get the chance to do it again.”

“I’m angry she got a chance in the first place,” Harry muttered before he sighed.

“Ok,” George said suddenly as he clapped his hands together. “Now that the excitements over with, let’s get on with the training.”

The others laughed, Harry included, and George smiled when he saw it as he had gotten what he had wanted. The others turned and headed outside. Draco shook his head and followed after them, Harry behind him.

“Harry?” Draco stopped just before they left the sitting room.

“Yeah?” Harry stopped as well, wondering what was wrong with the blond.

“No more running,” Draco said as he turned around to look Harry in the eye.

Harry’s brow furrowed for a few seconds in confusion before they cleared. A smile slowly built on his face and his eyes lit up. He walked forward, closing the distance between the two of them and grabbed Draco’s hand, pulling him close. Draco’s arms automatically went around Harry’s neck, while Harry’s settled on his waist.

“Yeah?” Harry smiled down at the blond and Draco felt his breath catch at the pure joy on Harry’s face.

Draco bit his lip before a smile broke free. “Yeah.”

“Good,” Harry said before he leaned down and captured Draco’s lips in a kiss. It wasn’t like the kiss they had shared back at Harry’s room at Privet Drive, no this one was very simple; no tongue or anything, but it was just as sweet. Minutes later, Harry ran his tongue along Draco’s lips and Draco parted them immediately, allowing Harry’s tongue inside.

Harry’s grip on Draco’s waist tightened slightly and so did Draco’s grip around Harry’s neck. Moans escaped both as their tongues fought for control, which Harry won, but Draco didn’t mind. The heat and passion that rose from both, circled in the air around them as their magic reacted. Minutes later, both the magic and heated air cooled down as the intensity of the kiss eased. They pulled back slowly and rested their foreheads against each other, eyes still closed and their breaths caressing each other’s lips.

“Mine,” Harry whispered.

“Yours,” Draco nodded. “As you are mine.”

“Yours,” Harry agreed. They kissed once more, before they separated and heading after the others.

“Oh Harry?” Draco said as they walked through the house.

“Yeah?” Harry looked sideways at him.

“The Dark Lord wants to see us after we’re done with training,” Draco said.

“Alright,” Harry nodded. “Did he say what it was about?”

“No,” Draco shook his head. “He just requested we meet him.”

“Ok,” Harry nodded, his brows slightly furrowed as he wondered what the meeting could be about. “After the training, we’ll see what he wants and I have to speak with about this letter anyways.”

~…~

Voldemort was sitting in his private rooms behind his desk, reading reports and making notes. Nagini was curled up in a huge cozy nest of blankets near the fireplace for warmth. The Gaunt ring was on the middle finger of his left hand (he can wear it; the curse only harms other people trying to put the ring on), and on his ring finger was a Slytherin signet ring. He was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Enter," he called out.

Harry and Draco walked in and when they were a few feet from the desk, they bowed, "Good afternoon my Lord."

Voldemort looked up before gesturing for them to take a seat. They did and then waited quietly for a few minutes until he was finished with what he was doing.

After a few minutes, Voldemort put down his quill and looked at them. He noticed that every so often, Harry would stare at the ring on his hand as if riveted and fascinated.

"So, boys," he started. "Severus tells me that you have access to the old Black Family Townhouse?"

"Yes my Lord," Draco answered. "I am the new owner."

"My Godfather, Sirius Black, was the last male Black. He left Grimmauld Place to Draco in his will," Harry piped in. He was silent for a few seconds before he decided to ask about something that had been bugging him for several days. "Marvolo, please can I ask you a question before we move on?"

"You're doing that already," Voldemort said, slightly amused. "But yes, you may ask another one."

Harry shifted nervously in his seat, not sure how his curiosity would be received. He looked at the ring on the Dark Lord's hand again. He was aware that it was new, as he had never seen the Dark Lord wear such a ring before. It was made of rough gold, with a black stone with a triangle carved on the top. He knew that Voldemort always wore another ring on the ring finger of his left hand; a small silver signet ring with Slytherin's crest, similar to those signet rings Lucius and Draco wore, for sealing their letters with the Lord and Heir Malfoy's crest.

'Oh well, here goes nothing'. Harry formulated his question as polite as he could,

"Yeah, well, it's kind of personal," he started. "I mean, you don't have to explain and I understand that's not my business, but may I please ask what happened four days ago at noon and during the afternoon? You see, after talking to Remus, I returned to Potter Manor when suddenly, I felt like my head would split open and my scar started bleeding."

Voldemort's voice held concern even as his brows furrowed, "explain to me exactly how you were feeling."

"I got this murderous headache, it was a real migraine," Harry explained. "Your emotions spiked in a terrifying way. I felt terrible anger and also fe-, err, other emotions. It made me sick all afternoon; I even passed out at one point. Draco and the others were very concerned. Then, during the night, it got better. Sometimes I felt another stab, like flashes of emotion from you, but now it was very different, more glee, satisfaction.

"When reading the Prophet the next morning I noticed this corresponded exactly with the times of the Bones and Vance murders and the Thames Bridge collapsing...this experience was similar to what I felt during fifth year. For example, in January, when the LeStranges and the other prisoners broke out of Azkaban, I felt your extremely good mood that night; I woke up, laughing like mad, scaring Ron. The next morning I read in the Prophet what had caused you such happiness. And, at the Ministry of Magic, I felt your anger through my scar when you realized that the prophesy orb was broken, you know when Bella and I were fighting in the Atrium, right before you appeared and attacked me?"

Voldemort looked at Harry, his brows still furrowed in a frown. That Harry had felt the confusion, fear and fury radiating from him on the day of the Horcrux hunt, despite the fact that they were separated by at least a hundred miles on that day, depending where this Potter Manor exactly was, was cause for concern. This connection between them was an anomaly. He had never heard that one person would get headaches like this if another one was angry, furious, upset or feeling gleeful. And what could explain that he could send Harry images in his dreams? In the Atrium he and Harry had been close together, but in January there were hundreds of miles between them.

Harry, along with Draco, was looking at Voldemort, fear in their eyes; Harry was terrified he'd be Crucio'd for asking the questions and mentioning the murders, while Draco was terrified for his boyfriend.

Voldemort looked at them and took in how Harry looked and held himself. He saw the fear in both of their eyes and the way Draco was hardly daring to breathe, eyes looking anywhere but at his master. Obviously both boys were expecting the worst, and still Harry dared to ask.

His thoughts drifted once again to Harry's words. He could feel effects of whatever emotion he was feeling if it was intense enough. 'Did that mean that Harry had felt something yesterday evening or this morning when Severus and I...?' he thought to himself and a blush threatened to rise in his face. It would be embarrassing if that was the case and he truly hoped it wasn't. Regardless, he would take time later to meditate and strengthen his Occlumency shields again.

He looked at the boys once more and noticed that once again, Harry's attention was drawn to the Gaunt ring on his finger. He couldn't understand Harry's fascination, as Draco had given one glance at it and then ignored it, just as all the other followers had reacted during the lunch meeting. A truly outrageous suspicion was forming in Voldemort's mind, but he would have to test that theory later, when hopefully the boys had returned with the locket.

"Your questions are a little presumptuous," Voldemort spoke finally. "However, I will answer you. What happened four days ago has a direct connection to why I wanted to see the two of you today."

"Is there something you have for us to do?" Harry asked as Draco was still a little shaken.

"There is actually," Voldemort nodded. "I have two missions for you and one of them is the reason I asked about the Black dwelling."

"We'll do everything in our power to help you Marvolo," Harry said. "What is it that you need us to do?"

"You first mission is to retrieve something for me," Voldemort said.

"If I may ask sir," Draco spoke up. "What is it you need us to retrieve?"

"A locket," Voldemort answered, "one that was stolen from me." He waved his hand and a box flew to him. He opened it and pulled out a golden locket. "My locket was swapped out for this one. This is the fake as mine is much heavier and has an ornate 'S' one the front."

"Do you think the locket is at Grimmauld Place?" Harry asked as he glanced at the locket in Voldemort's hands. "May I have a look please?"

Voldemort reached the locket over the table.

"Thank you," Harry said as he picked it up. He peered closely at it, frowning as he did so. "I remember seeing something very similar to this during the summer a year ago, when I was at Grimmauld Place and Mrs. Weasley forced us to clean out the cabinets. They were full of dark artifacts and among them was a heavy golden locket with an 'S' on it. We tried opening it, but none of us could open the lid."

"I do hope that my locket is still in that house and I want you both to search for it and get it back to me," Voldemort said. "When you find it, don't try to open it as it could seriously harm you. However, you can touch it from the outside; it is not cursed like that."

"Yes sir," Draco nodded; he was curious about the locket, but knew better than to ask any questions.

Harry looked at Voldemort; he locked eyes with the Dark Lord, allowing him to read the thought in his mind. 'What's the importance of the locket?'

Immediately images of their talk flooded his mind and Harry understood. He gave a subtle nod to let Voldemort know he did understand.

"Leave now," Voldemort said, "and return here when you are finished. If Hedwig takes you, do not have her flash inside this room."

"Yes my Lord/Yes Marvolo," came from both Draco and Harry.

"Good," Voldemort nodded, "dismissed."

The two bowed before they turned and walked out. They had reached the door, when Harry stopped.

"What is it?" Voldemort asked when he saw him.

"This came when I went back to my old place," Harry pulled out the letter and walked over to the Dark Lord, handing it to him. "It's from the Old Man, but I have no idea who he's talking about."

Voldemort took the letter, opened it and scanned it quickly. A frown marred his features for a second before he looked up at Harry. "I will speak with Severus and perhaps your wolf about it."

"Thank you," Harry nodded. "By the way, did Nagini have her babies?"

"Yes," Voldemort nodded, "but she is in protective mode right now, so no one is allowed near her. When she is ready to present them, she will come."

"Alright," Harry nodded. "We'll go now."

"Good luck," Voldemort said.

~…~

"Our first assignment," Draco looked over at his boyfriend and marveled at the fact that he could now call Harry that.

"Yep," Harry nodded. He looked at the blond and smiled at the wonder on his face. He leaned close and kissed him. Seconds later, he pulled away.

"What was that for?" Draco demanded, though he wasn't complaining.

"Felt like it," Harry shrugged with a smile. "Now come on, let's go. Hedwig?"

She flashed in and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"Can you take us to Grimmauld Place beautiful?" Draco asked.

Hedwig trilled even as her chest puffed slightly from the 'beautiful' comment. Draco stepped close and held on to Harry's arm and the trio flashed out.

~... ~

An hour later, a knock sounded on the door to Voldemort's private chambers. He looked up before calling out for the person to enter. The door opened and Draco and Harry walked in.

"I assume the mission was a success?" Voldemort asked as the two bowed to him.

"Yes," both answered and Harry held out his hand, Slytherin's Locket in it. He stared at it as if it was the most precious thing in the world, utterly fascinated, turning it around with his fingers.

Voldemort moved from his seat and walked over to them. He reached out with his left hand, the one that held the Ring, to take the locket from Harry's hand, but Harry reacted and it was most peculiar. He sucked in a breath, held tightly onto the locket before he stared at it again. Raising his gaze to Voldemort's eyes, the young man bit his lip. Finally, he relinquished his grip and allowing the older man to take it.

The moment their fingers touched over the locket, they both felt a slight shock, as if sparks of magic passed between them. They stared bewildered at each other for a moment, until Voldemort closed his fingers over the locket and quickly turned back to his desk to put it into the wooden box.

He felt a mystifying turmoil of emotions inside; excitement, happiness, glee, satisfaction, and a sudden yearning to be near Harry again and to hold onto Slytherin's Locket at the same time. His magic seemed to reach out to the young man, coursing through himself, the ring on his left hand, the locket and Harry. Harry's magic reacted similar, as if connecting and pulling them together. Then he noticed a hissing coming from the nest; Nagini had uncurled herself a bit and had raised her head to look over to them, her tongue probing the air. {Master and little master, are you well?} The large serpent hissed.

Harry reacted at once by staring over to her, hissing {Hello Nagini, all is well. We are together.}

Voldemort shuddered and wrenched his attention back to his surroundings; taking one last look at the locket, he closed the wooden box and then soothed Nagini, {indeed, all is well with us. Go to sleep again.}

The boy seemed equally confused. He shook his head as if to clear cobwebs from his mind, absentmindedly reaching up to rub his scar, and frowned. Draco glanced from the Dark Lord to Harry to Nagini and back with a worried and puzzled look.

The Dark Lord narrowed his eyes. What was going on? Harry's peculiar behaviour and his own emotional and magical reaction confirmed his former suspicions. He had devised a theory to explain the strange connection between them: It looked like he had another Horcrux, one that was created inadvertently that Halloween night he tried to kill Harry the first time. It would explain why he felt the sudden urge to protect Harry, to lock him up in a vault or a fortress to keep him safe, just like Nagini and the other Horcruxes. Well, he would think about this conundrum later; now there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"Did you encounter any problems?" Voldemort asked. "Where was the locket?"

"We had some trouble at first," Draco answered. "Kreacher was giving us a little problem, but we were able to get him to do what we wanted. I think giving him the fake locket made things easier."

"Kreacher? Who's that? Why did you give him the false locket? Describe exactly what you did and what happened!" the older man asked urgently.

"Yes my Lord," said Draco nervously, when Harry remained uncharacteristically quiet, his gaze again shifting between Voldemort's face, the ring on his hand, the box with the locket and Nagini. "Kreacher is the age old, half dead, house elf living in Grimmauld Place. I called him to me and we showed him the false locket, asking whether he had seen a similar one. The elf got very agitated, shook his head like mad, pulled at his ears, cried hysterically and mumbled unintelligible words all the time. I commanded him sternly as the new Black family head of house to bring me the other locket.

"He said something about he could not, it being against master Regulus' orders. Then he wailed and told us that the smaller locket we had brought along had belonged to his master Regulus. So Harry said he could keep master Regulus' locket. That helped; he stopped his wailing and crying. I told him again to fetch the other one, which he did, very reluctantly I must say. It was hidden in the kitchen under a nest of rags in a cupboard. I cast a mild cleansing charm on it. That's all that happened.

Draco did not understand why, but his report obviously pleased the Dark Lord, so his face and tense shoulders relaxed. The man looked far away for a moment, thinking about what he had heard.

"Did you ask that elf how the locket came to be at Grimmauld Place, or about his former master?" Voldemort asked Draco.

"No, my Lord, I did not," Draco answered promptly.

"Very good," Voldemort nodded. "I am very pleased with you." His eyes stared at the locket in the box for a few seconds before he looked back at the boys. "Now Harry, as to the letter that you received, with the help of Severus and Remus, we figured out who the letter was talking about."

"Who?" Harry shook his head again as if clearing a fog.

"Horace Slughorn," Voldemort answered. He had been shaken when he had realized who exactly Dumbledore was talking about. His fears were confirmed and he knew that he had to find Slughorn before Dumbledore did. He had planned to do this after his talk with Harry, but checking on his safeguards had been too important. He looked at both boys with narrowed eyes. "And he will be your second mission."

The two straightened up and looked at him.

"I will need to acquire more information before I send you out," Voldemort told them.

"Yes my Lord," both murmured.

"I will call for you when I have collected the information," Voldemort said. "You are dismissed until further notice."

The two bowed before leaving the room. They wouldn't be called until three days later on Harry's birthday.

~... ~

The Dark Lord gave Harry and Draco a file from a drawer in his desk, addressing the two young men standing before him in his study seriously.

"Here is all the relevant information about your first target. Read it at once and then get going. I want both of you back here before sundown, with that man alive and well enough for interrogation."

Harry raised a brow, reaching for the file and opened it; Draco stepped close, his hands on Harry's waist, and looked in over his shoulder as Harry skimmed through the information. The file was about a potions master named Horace Slughorn, a retired potions teacher from Hogwarts, former Head of House of Slytherin.

Several photos showed him at different ages with a group of Students. To Harry's surprise, he recognized the young Tom Riddle in one of them, from 1943. Biting his lip, he kept himself from commenting; he only briefly locked eyes with Voldemort and raised a brow for half a second before looking back at the file; after all, he had strict orders to keep the Dark Lords past and muggle name a secret.

In another photo titled 'Potions Master Horace Slughorn with 5th, 6th, and 7th year students 1977' he could identify the young Severus Snape, Regulus Black and his mum, Lilly Evans. Draco was especially interested in those from the seventies, as he recognized his godfather and other Slytherins, like his aunt Bellatrix and in one from 1971 his parents.

Flicking through the file, Harry came upon a list with different dates and addresses all over Britain together with matching maps and even some house sketches. Harry frowned and sent a questioning glance to his Lord.

"Slughorn often uses muggle houses and changes his residence almost every week, because he is so afraid my Death Eaters will visit him again," the Dark Lord sneered.

At this remark, Harry and Draco sniggered, "Wonder why he thinks that."

"Perhaps," Voldemort smirked, "it was because he got a missive from me a while ago that required his cooperation. Dolohov and Nott visited him once, after they had tracked him down in Peterborough. He noticed them coming and Apparated away on the spot. Therefore, although this file contains his present location as far as we know, it may be outdated already. He was reported in Budleigh Baberton a few weeks ago, and then he was in Gloucester; after that he was in Peterborough and yesterday he was seen in Abbotsbury. Hedwig will help you find him. On some of the photos are his personal signatures, which are sufficient to use for a tracking spell."

The Dark Lord flicked his wand at a filing cabinet at the wall, something shot out of a drawer into his hand. He continued to brief the slender, black clad young men for their first 'real' mission.

"Prepare yourselves well and cover each other's backs. Try to use as little magic as possible as you shall be working in a muggle village," he told them. "Casting several powerful, dark combat spells might alert the Ministry that magic was used where it is not expected. Alternatively, someone like Dumbledore might recognize your magical signature Harry, if he finds out that Slughorn is missing."

Harry looked up startled, while Draco rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, exasperated that the dark haired seeker always forgot things like this, though he knew it was because Harry had grown up in the muggle world and not in a pureblood household. Voldemort hid a smile at the exchange.

"Disillusion yourselves before you leave here; when you arrive, allow Hedwig to check the layout and for possible traps first," Voldemort continued. "He will most likely have intruder charms or wards up to warn him if a wizard enters the house or Apparates nearby." He paused and looked at Harry. "You said Hedwig can transport you through any kind of wards. Despite that talent, if he has an intruder alarm, it will probably go off nonetheless.

"This is a stealth mission; you must watch your prey and then strike quick as a viper. Do not give him time to reach for his wand. You have been trained in muggle hand-to-hand combat in addition to your magical combat training. If needs be, hit him over the head with a book or a lamp. I do not particularly care how you do it. Incapacitate and bind Slughorn, either use this portkey, or let Hedwig flash you out."

Voldemort held out two short pieces of silver chain to them, explaining them. "The activation word is," he waved his hand over the chains and the word appeared for a moment glowing blue in the air above it, reading 'Lock up'. Harry and Draco nodded and put the portkeys in their left front pockets.

"It is set with a three second countdown. This portkey will transport up to five humans to a cell down in the dungeons; Slughorn shall get cell number two. You can open the cell and dungeon doors from the inside with {Open up} Harry," he told them. "Do not forget to check him for extra wands, portkeys and the like before you leave him there. One of you will keep watch and the other shall report to me. Should I be busy or absent, tell Goyle that my guest has arrived." He stopped and looked at them, seeing the confused looks on their faces.

"Goyle is in charge of the dungeons," he explained. "Slughorn is not to be tortured or harmed by any other then myself; keep him safe and alive, but don't let him escape, is that clear?"

Draco and Harry nodded, confirming their understanding with "Yes, Marvolo," and "Yes, my Lord," although they shared an irritated glance; honestly they could not imagine that this mission would be very difficult. Catching an old, retired teacher?

Voldemort noticed their expressions, and sighed, "Ah, the impatience and arrogance of youth. Don't get cocky boys and don't underestimate Slughorn. From the photos in this file, he looks like an old, kind, fat, bald, harmless little man, but he was the Head of Slytherin for many decades for a reason. Slughorn is a potions master and a wizard competent at Charms, Transfiguration, Mind Magic and the Dark Arts; so I advise you to consider this."

Harry and Draco glanced at each other again and then nodded towards Voldemort. "Yes sir, we will take care," Harry assured him.

Voldemort stared down into Harry's eyes, fixing him with his crimson gaze, determined to impress the seriousness of the matter upon the young man.

"Do not forget Dumbledore," he cautioned. "If you leave soon, you should reach Slughorn before Dumbledore shows up. However, he might have changed his plans. He might have visited him already, he is on his way just now, or he might come right after you have left. You are no match for him yet if it comes to a serious fight."

At this, Harry scowled indignantly, while Draco looked alarmed at the prospect that they could end up facing off against someone as powerful as the headmaster.

Voldemort smirked at the predictable reaction of the boys. "Harry, you are famous for squirming out of the tightest situations; indeed you are amazingly powerful and strong for a boy your age and have trained a lot the past weeks, otherwise I would not send you out on this mission. Nevertheless, you should know best how powerful, talented, cunning, and dangerous Dumbledore is. Remember our latest clash at the Ministry?"

Harry remembered very well. He opened his mouth, but closed it again. What was there to argue? Nothing at all.

Draco had only overheard his aunt Bellatrix telling his mother and father about the battle in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, but it had sounded most impressive. With a giant fiery serpent, a water hurricane, shredded ice and glass shooting through the air like deadly projectiles, transfigured statues from the fountain of magical brethren jumping in to fight for Dumbledore.

Voldemort did not want to admit a weakness, but he feared Dumbledore for a reason and he didn't want these two teenagers to end up injured, dead or in Azkaban over such a mission. To capture and interrogate Slughorn was important to him, yes, but not worth the revealing of Harry's true alliance to Dumbledore or the possible death of the Malfoy heir. On the other hand, he could understand that Harry and Draco wanted to prove their worth to him with this mission.

"Between themselves, Dumbledore and Slughorn have about two hundred years of magical experience and knowledge over you. You must avoid a confrontation with them together at all costs, you can only lose and you will lose a lot," Voldemort continued with his lecture. "I'd rather have you break off the mission, hide and come back without Slughorn, where you could try again later, than losing the both of you. Hedwig can perhaps flash you out in time, but if you are seen and recognized at this place, attacking Slughorn, Dumbledore will know you have gone dark. And that would ruin so many plans, wouldn't it? I shall be most displeased." The last statement was emphasized.

At this warning, the two young men shuddered. "Yes Sir, we will be careful," said Harry, with Draco adding, "We will not fail you, my Lord."

Voldemort looked once more into their eyes, and then he walked back to his desk and sat down, picking up another report to read.

"Dismissed," he said, eyes never leaving the report.

Both youths bowed and then swiftly left the Dark Lord's study, the door closing softly behind them.

~...~

Draco and Harry walked to the foyer, where Hedwig was perched on the railing of the main staircase waiting for them.

Draco asked, "So where is this village again, Harry?"

Harry flipped through the pages of the file to look up the coordinates of the village. "Name's Abbotsbury. Here is a map of the region, South West of England. It's a tiny village on the coast of Dorset, quite a few miles east of this other place, Budleigh Baberton, where he stayed before. Harry showed the map to Hedwig, she trilled enthusiastically. No problem at all."

"Indeed, I know these places," said Draco. "Budleigh Baberton is a small town on the south coast of Devon, about15 miles south of Exeter. We have a small summerhouse farther to the west near a cove for holidays. Abbotsbury in Dorset is famous for the Swannery. So the old man likes seaside resorts?"

"Yeah, you lucky rich pure bloods, "Harry teased. "I have never been anywhere except to London, to Diagon and Knockturn, then of course Hogwarts, the Weasley's Burrow and that place of the Quidditch World cup."

He gestured to the file and asked Draco, "Do you want to read this some more?"

Draco responded, "Yes, let's see what information there is; better safe than sorry." He took the file from Harry and looked it over. "Look, we have the layout of the house to study it before approaching it. It's a stone house at the outer edge of the village, on the land side, not on the beach. Not a manor, much smaller. There is a lane coming down from the hills towards the village. No front garden, but a back garden with another building, a shed or stable."

He stopped and looked at it again before continuing. "There're lots of plants growing around the house, also climbing wine, good, which could be a possible cover for us. There're two outside doors, front and back next to the kitchen. Downstairs are two bigger rooms, one smaller room and a kitchen, a small bathroom, upstairs three bedrooms and another bathroom."

Harry smiled at his boyfriend, amused at the way Draco read everything out. He couldn't help but to tease him. "You don't have to study this like it's for NEWTs." Draco flushed and Harry chuckled before he continued.

"Look, Hedwig can flash us to the address," he said. "When we get there, we hide and she checks to make sure we have the right house before she flashes us in. We stun or body-bind him and are back here in ten minutes. Mission accomplished."

Draco shook his head at his boyfriend's behaviour. "Considering you were supposed to be in Slytherin, you seriously need to learn more Slytherin self-preservation. There's still too much Gryffindor tendencies in your heart... we need to get them out."

Harry shoved his shoulder playfully, his tone indignant. "Hey! I'm at my best when I have to make split second decisions while in mortal peril! I've faced and fought many dangerous foes, like a Troll, Fluffy, Acromantulas, Basilisk, Dementors, Dragon, those Merpeople and Grindylows in the lake, Hagrid's giant blast ended Screwt, the Sphinx and not to forget the Dark Lord several times. Remember the Tri-Wizard Tournament?"

Draco rolled his eyes at this statement and said, "Yes Harry, you do have much more experience with mortal danger than me and I know that I have no real idea of several adventures of yours, I only heard the rumour in the school. However, the Dark Lord warned us for a reason and giving out warnings is something he seldom does.

"My father and Severus already explained to you it's mostly learning by doing for his Death Eaters. Our Lord has high expectations. The team leader is responsible for scouting out the target, preparing, training and briefing his team and the tactic. If someone fails their mission, they are either captured or killed by the Aurors or severely punished or sometimes even killed by the Dark Lord."

Harry was quiet as he listened to Draco talk.

"Father nearly couldn't walk a day after that fiasco at the Ministry of Magic; he was so weak and shaking all over from the Cruciatus. He was punished hard, because it was his fault as team leader that everything went to hell."

"No, that's unfair," Harry interrupted Draco with a shake of his head. "I wouldn't say that. Bellatrix was too eager, she wanted a fight; your father was the one who tried to calm everybody down and keep that prophesy orb safe and in one piece." Here, he paused before continuing. "Not that it worked, but that's really not Lucius' fault. I deliberately smashed the shelves at first to create a diversion to escape and later on I smashed the prophesy orb simply because I didn't want your father or Voldemort to get it. At the time I wasn't planning on joining this side, so..."

Draco shrugged with one shoulder. "Well, that's in the past, although father was quite angry with you for a while, but he got over it; later he granted that he was impressed how you, a fifteen-year-old school boy, handled the situation once you realized it was a trap. Of course, they would have eventually caught and killed you and your friends, if that Order of Dumbledore's hadn't shown up."

Harry was quiet once more as he listened to Draco's blunt assessment of the battle at the Ministry. It was interesting to hear the point of view from him, what with him being a Death Eater's son. Snape had already told him what his rashness had caused, but it was still a bit unnerving to hear it laid out like that from his boyfriend.

"It would've been a tough battle," Harry spoke slowly. "Or maybe not, but Lucius and the Death Eaters wouldn't have killed me. I'm not saying this to sound arrogant, but it is the truth. My magic is powerful and it reacts when I'm in danger. It started when I was a kid, and despite the fact that I had to keep it under wraps the last five years at Hogwarts, it hasn't lessened in the slightest. Your father may know more spells than I do, but when it comes down to it my magic is more powerful because I basically have very little restraint over it. Whatever I want to happen, my magic causes it to."

Draco frowned, and thought over it before he nodded slowly. "I'll give you that. However, my point is the Dark Lord now cares about you; your alliance is of great political value to him. It is why he treats you so differently from other followers. He warned us to be careful and we should."

"I know Draco," Harry said. "He told us specifically if the mission is compromised, then we are to abandon it and try again. I may have been joking earlier, but I'm not stupid. I've spent the past five years and more hiding who I truly am. I may have been placed in Gryffindor, but I am a snake, otherwise, I never would've survived the years."

"I forgot about that," Draco said sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Harry waved him off. Seeing that his boyfriend still looked repentant, he stepped closer to him and pulled him into his body for a hug. "It really is fine Draco."

Draco buried his face in Harry's chest and sighed as he looked up into the green eyes staring back at him. Only around him, and his father, could he drop the Malfoy mask and allow his emotions to be seen. "I'm just worried. This is our first mission and it is a very important one. The other Death Eaters would be envious if they knew the Dark Lord trusted us with something like this. They'd probably attack us and they will if we fail."

At the incredulous look in his boyfriend's eyes, he raised an eyebrow. "Have you not considered that? Some of the other Death Eaters resent you and they'd love to see the cocky Harry Potter and Lucius Malfoy's precious son get knocked down a peg or two. As long as we are strong, ambitious and successful in our missions, everything is fine and they must respect us. If we misstep, there are consequences. The Dark Lord cannot coddle or favour you or me, especially me, unduly in front of the other followers; otherwise, dissonance will brew in the ranks."

Harry looked thoughtful; he had not considered this and was amazed at Draco's insight in the inner workings of the Dark Order. 'Well, that must be the result of growing up in a dark pureblood household as the son of an inner circle member,' he thought to himself.

"I want to avoid our Lord's wrath and you can't tell me you'd enjoy it?" Draco continued.

Harry shook his head as he remembered the last time he faced Voldemort's wrath.

"His concern is valid. What if we flash to this address and land right in front of Dumbledore as he opens the door?" Draco said as he pulled back from Harry's embrace. It was nice, but they needed to focus. He walked away and started rummaging around in a cabinet that stood in an alcove underneath the staircase.

"Yes, but our Lord needn't have worried so much. We are both Seekers, quick and built for speed and like he said, we've trained really hard the past weeks," Harry said confidently, wondering what Draco was looking for. "What are you looking for?"

"Time for your costume, oh great and mighty Golden Boy," Draco turned around with a smirk. "In this cabinet are masks for us, try this one." He held out a silver mask to Harry while he held another.

Harry scowled even as he took the mask; he didn't like being called 'Golden Boy'. He placed the mask on and made a face at it. He hated the feel of the cold metal on his skin. The masks were charmed to stay on the face even through sudden or violent movements.

"Harry, you will have to get used to this. The masks are there because you know your face has to be hidden. My light blond hair is a dead giveaway too, that's why we are to wear these regular, Black Death Eaters robes and cowls that cover everything," Draco explained. "We will disillusion ourselves of course, but should Slughorn get a chance to fight back, or worst case, if Dumbledore suddenly turns up, a Finite Incantatem could reveal at least me, so it is safer to wear such disguises to begin with. Now, how do you plan to do this?"

Harry smiled and chuckled, "Well if I should run into Dumbledore by accident, I will simply tell him that I practice early for Halloween, you know trying out my brand new costume!"

Draco raised a perfect eyebrow at this ridiculous statement, even as a chuckle escaped him. "Indeed, they sell original Death Eater regalia at Madam Malkin's or Weasleys Wizard Wheezes nowadays; and you just happened to change your mind that you wanted to visit old professor Slughorn today because he liked your mum; you didn't want to frighten him at all; yes, you'll be very convincing." He had a hard time to keep a straight face saying this nonsense in a perfectly level voice of reason.

Harry sniggered, but quickly sobered again and thought for a moment about their job. He then consulted the description of the village and the house again.

"We will flash with Hedwig to the outskirts of Abbotsbury; let's say half a mile from the given address, up here in those wooded hills overlooking the village and the sea," said Harry pointing at the map. "Then we walk downhill and survey the area. Muggles won't notice us. If a muggle on foot or in a car comes by, we simply step very close to the roadside, stay still for a minute and blend in with the hedges on the roadside." He paused and looked at the blond. "You do know what a muggle car is, and that they can drive real fast, do you Draco?"

Draco nodded and Harry smiled briefly before continuing.

"Slughorn will most likely not get an apparition alarm, because we will simply not have apparated in. Hedwig will check upon not only the house, but if Dumbledore's there or not. Then she comes back to report, before hopefully without complications flashing us into the house, upstairs if Slughorn is downstairs or the other way around."

Draco took the file again and scanned the next page. He remarked, "According to this report, he has always used a standard intruder alarm or proximity ward while staying in other houses; they were set around the edge of the property, if there was a hedge or wall, and never more than one hundred meters in any direction."

"Yes, that's why I think we should simply walk down the lane until we are quite close to the house," Harry nodded. "There is no garden hedge, fence or wall creating a barrier to the street, so I hope he has set the wards on the front door and windows and not on the street. He more than likely has set wards to protect the garden entrance too."

Draco agreed, "Well, Hedwig should be able to tell you exactly in which room he is. As soon as we know and that he is alone, we flash in and attack."

Harry pondered over which simple, neutral magic spells to use for maximum effect; after all the Dark Lord had told them to avoid dark curses if possible.

"I guess you or I will summon his wand before he has a chance to reach for it. I will cast Petrificus Totalus, you cast Incarcerous right after that, and then we'll grab him and portkey out," Harry spoke. "Should there be any trouble, such as him managing to raise his wand or a shield against us, I will attack him physically from the back and knock him out, while you distract him with some foolish wand waving and snide remarks from the front."

Harry chuckled at the image; he would always remember Snape's speech in his very first potions class.

"Just please be careful not to cast anything really nasty like Sectumsempra at him that could kill me when I am just about to jump on his back, will you?" Harry implored Draco theatrically, who rolled his eyes and taunted right back, drawling.

"As a pureblood, I am able to distinguish between charms, hexes, jinxes and curses, you do know that? Afraid to get another scar, scar head?"

"If I do, will you kiss it?" Harry teased and a flush worked its way up Draco's neck and face.

"Now is not the time Harry," Draco said as he tried to get rid of the flush.

Harry smiled and shook his head, enjoying the banter with the gorgeous, arrogant blond. "Alright, then we grab him just the same way and each other and use the portkey or Hedwig will flash us out, won't you girl?"

Hedwig's trilling reassured them.

Harry nibbled at his bottom lip while picturing the scene in his mind and the different ways it could play out. Then he pushed his dark hair out of his face with one hand and said, "If we have really bad luck, I don't know, like if we are separated while fighting with Slughorn, or someone comes to his aid, one of us must jump him and use the portkey to get him out of that house to the dungeon as fast as possible.

"Inside the cell, there is time enough to subdue Slughorn, although I would prefer it if we have him in a full body bind or stunned as soon as possible so he cannot try anything. The other one of us flashes out with Hedwig and comes back to the Manor this way. Hedwig will be in the house all the time, she is clever, and she could grab Slughorn alone and drop him in the dungeon cell if necessary."

Harry tried to imagine what could go wrong and continued, "If one of us should get stunned or knocked out otherwise, Hedwig will rescue him and the other escapes with the portkey, preferably with Slughorn in tow. In the worst case scenario, if we both should be knocked out, Hedwig has to flash back and forth to get all three of us out. What do you think?"

Draco considered all possibilities and nodded, "Indeed, we have a plan, and everything covered. No prisoner can get out of the dungeons on his own, Goyle keeps the outer dungeon door locked at all times. In addition, there is a ward on that door that only allows someone with the dark mark, or the Parseltongue override password, which the Dark Lord told you, through from the inside. A prisoner can leave the dungeon hall only when someone with the dark mark leads them by the arm or other physical contact. Does Hedwig know exactly where the dungeon cells are?"

Draco and Harry looked questioningly at Hedwig. She bobbed her head and trilled an amused note. What did they think she was, an incompetent flaming chicken?

They prepared to leave. Cowls and masks up, they checked each other that no telltale strands of hair were visible. Each had one dagger in a sheath on their belts and another hidden inside their black dragonhide boots. The wands were at the ready in their wand holsters, secured against the Summoning Charm while another lay hidden in their boots on the opposite side of the dagger. They had left their normal wands in a drawer in the cabinet under the staircase marked 'Wands' for safe keeping.

Both checked the front pocket of their robe with the chain portkey again. They cast the Disillusion charm on each other. When both were ready, Harry put his arms tightly around Draco's waist and Draco's arms went around Harry's neck while Hedwig jumped onto Harry's shoulder and dug her claws into his outer robe. Harry smirked down at his boyfriend, who was blushing furiously from the close proximity, but he said nothing and they pushed their feelings away, concentrating on the mission.

In an instant, all three vanished, reappearing invisible on a narrow lane between lush hedges. They noticed that they stood beside a copse of trees on a windswept hillside, with a breathtaking view of the rolling countryside and the glittering sea in the distance. The brisk wind chased white and grey clouds overhead. A loud, strange noise sounded far off.

"What's that?" Harry whispered into Draco's ear, surprised, but trying to be as quiet as possible, in case there were any muggles around the next bend in the lane.

"That's the honking of hundreds of swans from the Swannery," Draco whispered as he ignored the shiver that travelled through his body at Harry's voice and lips at his ear. He pulled out of the hug and turned Harry a bit, though he kept a hold of one of Harry's hand in his. "Do you see those trees over there, with the edge of surf and water glittering behind it? That's the lagoon of Chesil Bank and Fleet Nature Reserve."

"Thanks, I never heard such a noise before," said Harry. "Hedwig, please fly to the house where Slughorn is suppose to be and check if everything is ok, will you? Draco and I will walk down the lane; we should be there in eight minutes."

Hedwig took on the shape of an owl and soared into the sky towards the village.

The young man looked around them and started walking downhill. Draco continued to explain in a low voice, "Now at the end of July there are so many swans breeding there. The muggle caretakers herd them together for the yearly round up around this time, to weight and mark them. I must concede that the muggles take good care of the birds; I visited once a few years back with Father. There is also a lovely herb garden with some common potion ingredients and a duck decoy for catching ducks the muggle way."

Harry looked at him incredulously, but Draco couldn't see his expression because they were Disillusioned, so he whispered. "You and your dad visited here? A muggle place... where they breed birds? That's a little hard to believe."

Draco lifted his nose in the air and answered quietly, but haughtily, "The Malfoys are wizards, we are purebloods, but first and foremost we are Britons, well since 1066, when our ancestor came here from Normandy as a baron. We generally dislike and distrust muggles and we want to keep the magical world hidden and safe from them. That does not mean that we are ignorant or that we don't recognize that muggles have made some valuable contributions and inventions or that we cannot make money using the muggle economy.

"My family values beauty, art, history and tradition. Malfoys appreciate beauty and skill in a painting, in furniture, in decorations, in classical music or in nature, in plants or animals. Harry, you have visited our manor and the grounds several times. Did you not take notice of the high level of artisanship everywhere? Like in the gardens, inside or outside, such as the flower beds and the sculptured hedges, the white peacocks?"

Continuing more enthusiastically, but still in a low voice, Draco said, "During the past summers, my father and I travelled around the UK and Europe. I've seen the British and Natural History Museums and St. Paul's in London, Stonehenge, Hadrian's Wall, Snowdonia, Bath, Oxford, and St. Ives in Cornwall. Notre Dame, the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Bretagne and Normandy, Rome's Piazza Navona with the fountain of four rivers, the Colosseum, Forum Romanum, Pantheon, the Aqueducts, Catacombs, the Piazzas and Basilicas, Granadas hidden gardens and the Alhambra, to name a few examples of superior craftsmanship or fine arts to enjoy."

Draco tugged a bit on Harry's arm and turned him in the direction where the honking of the Swans originated and explained, "These swans there are beautiful, graceful, they are wild and free. The muggle caretakers do not keep them confined in pens like chicken all year round. They provide some rearing pens for the breeding swans in summer, were they put those swans that have trouble of some kind and feed them up, until they can take care of themselves again.

"These wild swans and ducks come here since thousands of years to lay their eggs and rear their cygnets. Since the end of the Ice Age, this lagoon exists; this is an area especially attractive to waterfowl. Of course, in former centuries, the muggles living at the monastery caught a large percentage of the waterfowl and killed them for food. Where did you think the swans came from that are mentioned as being served on the kings and nobles tables in the middle ages? Today this is a nature reserve. So yes, my father thought I would like to see the Swannery; it was a charming experience."

Harry didn't answer at first; he was busy collecting his jaw from the floor and revaluating his opinion of the Malfoys and purebloods in general, again. He did not known much of the world or history of his homeland, having left muggle school at age eleven and the Dursleys had never taken him along anywhere except that one time to the zoo. In Hogwarts, they did not teach such general history of Britain or the planet earth. Or he had slept through it, should Binns ever have mentioned something different then Goblins rebellions. Obviously, purebloods educated their children in other subjects then dark arts curses or how to dance at a ball or which fork to use for which course at a formal dinner.

Finally, he managed to mumble, not really up to sarcasm, "Uhm, yes, thanks for the lesson, Professor Malfoy, I didn't know that. But, how did you avoid to, you know, how did you fit in?"

"You mean how we dressed to fit in with the other visitors?" Draco asked. When Harry nodded, he continued. "Well, father knows how to dress so that he appears like an affluent, important muggle executive. You do know that the Italian Armani family is wizards, doing businesses in both worlds? That father has connections to wizard controlled muggle companies that fill our vaults, not just solely wizard businesses?"

Harry sighed, again, no, he hadn't known this. What Draco had talked about in the last five minutes was so completely outside of his own experiences. From fourth year, the Quidditch World Cup and the Tri-Wizard Tournament, he remembered that there were wizards all over the world and that there were at least two other schools in Europe, Durmstrung and Beauxbatons. Perhaps Hermione had mentioned that there was a Salem institute in the U.S.?

He vowed to himself that he would learn more about the world than just fighting to survive! When he was finished with Hogwarts and the war was won, he would travel, visit new places, meet new people, and explore new possibilities! He had vaults full of gold, and he would have time to travel. After all, he did not need to find a job to earn money like Ron, as soon as NEWTS were over.

How did one usually travel to other countries in Europe or to other continents, like Asia, America or Africa wizard style? Only with a portkey, like it was organized at the Quidditch World Cup? Alternatively, was there such a thing as an international floo network? How far could a person safely Apparate under normal circumstances?

What about foreign languages? As he had not continued in muggle secondary school, Harry had not learnt French, Spanish, Italian or German like a normal muggle student. Was there a translation charm to understand other people who did not speak English? By the way, just how had those students from Durmstrung and Beauxbatons managed during their stay at Hogwarts? He had never met them in class, because they were seventh years, while he was a fourth year. Victor and Fleur, the other champions, had spoken some English, he remembered, but with a heavy accent.

He made a mental list of questions for his teachers. Severus and Lucius would perhaps not faint from shock that 'Potter' expressed a sudden interest in other subjects besides Martial Arts, Dark Arts and DADA, since they got on much better this summer, but they would be surprised. Of course, Harry could ask the twins, Neville or Draco, although he was very ashamed and embarrassed about his lack of knowledge and that this kind of questions had never crossed his mind before. It didn't fit at all with his self-image of a strong, tough, dangerous, powerful persona. Knowledge was power, and like Voldemort had told him years ago, power was all that mattered, there was no good or evil, only power.

Something bothered him, so he asked, "Draco, you mentioned a lot of muggle places you visited. You sound as if you have some respect for their work, buildings and arts. I thought you hated and despised all muggles? In the past years, you always called Hermione a mudblood. How come you have so different opinions?"

Draco smiled, which Harry could not see of course; patting his boyfriend's shoulder, he answered. "Harry, you have revealed that you wore a mask, that you played a certain role the past years at Hogwarts. Don't you think I played a role as well? I can respect and admire certain aspects of muggle culture and at the same time dislike an insufferable know-it-all like Granger. At Hogwarts, it is all about politics, this is not simple student house rivalry.

"To insult the muggleborn students, especially of Gryffindor, is expected of me, as a Malfoy, a pureblood and a Slytherin. It is our way, the dark pureblood students way, to protest against Dumbledore's policy in general to allow the light wizards and muggleborns increasing influence in Hogwarts and the Wizarding world, while at the same time treating valued, age old wizard traditions like dirt. He upsets the balance of Magic, between light and dark. That's what this war is about, after all. And about those muggle places, well all those places I mentioned have a wizard part and ancient wizard history too. Many wizards today and in the past hide amongst the muggles in plain sight."

"OK," said Harry, "thank you. I think I understand better now. Now shush, we are almost there."

While they talked, they had walked towards the small village. Everything looked like it should be. They were glad that Nott or Dolohov, whoever had composed the file and kept watch on Slughorn, had provided them with a map that was so accurate. Behind the hedges were pastures, a few sheep and horses grazed peacefully. The weather was fine, windy, the sun coming out behind the clouds ever so often. The lane wound its way downhill towards Abbotsbury and they could now see the first houses and a car parked at the side of the road. Most of the houses were built out of roughly hew yellow, beige brownish or grayish stones, with brownish tiles on the roof.

Draco and Harry stopped in the shadow of a tree besides the last hedge. From here, they could see the house where Slughorn was supposed to live. The road was empty. Harry used his mind connection to call Hedwig and she appeared at once, settling down on Harry's shoulder.

"What did you find, Hedwig?" Harry asked.

"There is one human in the house; a short, round, bald man. He matches the photos of Slughorn. He is in the front living room, besides the hall, opposite from the kitchen, playing the piano," reported Hedwig.

Harry repeated this to Draco, "She says that Slughorn is alone in the house, front living room."

"Well, let's go then!" Draco said and he released Harry's hand and moved his own back around Harry's neck, which caused Harry to immediately place his own hands around Draco's waist, returning the hug enthusiastically. Hedwig dug her claws into Harry's shoulder and Apparated all three of them without a sound inside Slughorn's temporarily home into a corner of the upstairs hall.

They waited with bated breath for an intruder alarm to go off, but it appeared luck was on their side as Hedwig's method of transport was not recognized as the same as a wizard's Apparation... everything remained quiet.

~... ~

They moved like ghosts through the upper floor of the house, finding all of the rooms empty. Silently they crept down the stairs, wands at the ready. Their target was in the front living room and they could hear faint piano music. Draco recognized the piece as the Hymn of Joy from L. Beethoven. Suddenly they heard a Crack from the street at the same moment an alarm sounded all around them.

"Fuck," Harry breathed and he reached out to grab hold of Draco's hand, which immediately squeezed his.

"Shit," Draco echoed, even as he was mentally reprimanding himself for the bad language out of habit.

"Up again," Harry whispered as he leaned into his boyfriend before they hastily backed up until they were halfway up the staircase there they crouched down to watch. Hedwig had balanced herself on the top of the railing of the stairs, a few feet from them, listening intently.

Suddenly it was silent again in the house; the alarm had been cut off. Someone knocked on the door and they heard footsteps followed by the clicking of a lock; Slughorn obviously was at the front door. The sounds of voices drifted towards the crouching young men and the two shared a look; Dumbledore really was here to visit Slughorn. What bad luck.

~... ~

"Horace, how are you?" Dumbledore questioned as he looked over at the man before looking around. "I must say you choose a lovely village to retire too." His greeting was enthusiastic and he was smiling like a Cheshire cat, while his light blue eyes sparkled at full blast. He wore no robes, possibly because he visited a muggle village in broad daylight, instead he wore an old fashioned, dark blue velvet muggle suit with a purple undershirt and orange pattern around the hems.

"Not so well, weak chest and Rheumatism too," Slughorn said. "You know, old age. Abbotsbury is a charming village, yes indeed." He paused before he continued. "Albus, please spare us the preambles. What exactly is it that you need? It must be very important for you to find me as I haven't made it easy for anyone to track me down."

"I want you to take up the post of the Potions teacher at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said.

"The answer's no," Slughorn shook his head. "No... N.O., do you understand?"

Draco, Harry and Hedwig were surprised to hear somebody speak like that to Dumbledore.

"You will not persuade me to return to Hogwarts. I'm an old man. I have earned the right to retire. And I happen to like to visit different seaside resorts, interesting places. Good-bye Albus, have a nice day. Go visit the Swannery, if you are here already," Slughorn answered curtly, trying to close the door.

"Horace, wait, listen to me, Harry Potter is at Hogwarts. Lilly's son," Dumbledore tried another argument to sway Slughorn's opinion.

"Yes, I know Harry Potter is a student at Hogwarts, everybody knows that. Wish him good luck and success in school. He does not need me. Look for another potions master. A good day to you!" With a snap of his wand, Slughorn let the door slam shut in the frustrated headmasters face.

Then the short, fat wizard quickly swished his wand left and right, up and down, murmuring incantations under his breath, obviously locking and warding the door with the strongest spells he could manage. Grumbling angrily, he turned and went back into the living room, shutting the door behind him.

~... ~

After Dumbledore left, Harry and Draco waited for a minute. Everything was quiet. Harry mentally asked Hedwig, "Is Dumbledore gone? Where is he?"

Hedwig flashed out of the room; she headed to the roof, making sure she couldn't be seen and watched Dumbledore's progress. Seconds later, she flashed back in and spoke mentally to Harry. "Dumbledore walked up the street in the direction of the road crossing, before he stopped beside the bus stop. There, he left by Disapparation."

Harry thanked her and gently tugged at Draco's hand, causing the blond to look at him. He inclined his head downwards to indicate that they could move again. "Come," he whispered. Both stayed very close together, as they could not really see each other well while disillusioned, this was better than bumping into each other by accident.

They tiptoed down the stairs and along the hall to the living room door. Each took a deep breath to quell their nervousness; both were quivering with excitement and anticipation. It was now or never. Hedwig fluttered behind them and perched on a dark, wooden coat and hat stand. After making sure the Disillusion Charm was still in place, Harry reached out to grab Draco's arm again; he squeezed it reassuringly and leaned in whispering "OK, in, now!"

Draco pushed the living door open forcefully, and found the old, fat, man standing in a cluttered living room, in front of a piano, looking out of the window onto the street.

"Good morning professor Slughorn," Draco said conversationally.

The man's head turned around alarmed, coming to see who had disturbed him. He reached for his wand lying besides the armchair on the side table, but Draco had already cast a quick Accio on the man's wand to prevent just that. He deftly caught it, showing his seeker skill, and quickly stuffed the wand into his belt for safe keeping.

Slughorn was no fool; Harry would have to give him that. Although he could only see a shimmer of movement at the door and had heard a few words by a young male voice, he concluded correctly that there were servants of the Dark Lord in his house.

Jumping around and backing up a step against the window, holding his hands up to show that he was unarmed, he gasped out, "Please, don't kill me. I'll do whatever you want. I'm a pureblood myself, I agree with the Dark Lord, I'm sorry I did not answer his missive at once, Id be very happy to serve him now!"

"Perhaps you may be useful," Draco drawled, sounding perfectly calm and poise.

"Yes," Harry picked up, "we have a proposal for you."

"Do you indeed? Yes? What is it?" Slughorn asked quickly, ready to agree to anything that would prevent his death... shame it wouldn't help.

"Well," Harry said, while casting the full Body-Bind voicelessly, "we invite you for tea."

At the same time, Draco yelled, "Incarcerous!"

As the spells hit Slughorn, he fell like a log, but before he crashed onto the floor, Draco shot across the room and caught him. "Quick, the portkey!" he whispered, struggling to hold the fat little man.

Harry rushed to his side, pulling the chain out of his pocket with his left hand and pressing it against Slughorn's bare throat, while throwing his right arm around Slughorn's and Draco's shoulders, he pulled all of them close together. Draco shifted his grip to touch the silver chain too, and with a whispered 'Lock up', they were ripped away by a feeling like a hook at their navels, but not before hearing a sharp Crack, watching the door bang open against the wall and Dumbledore storming into the room, a red stunner flashing straight towards them. The same time Hedwig shrieked a mental warning to her young master...

"Watch out! Dumbledore is here!"

~... ~

Harry and Draco returned to Malfoy Manor, flushed with success and high on adrenaline. They landed together with their victim in a jumbled heap on the floor in the badly lit dungeon cell, just as planned. Draco jumped up and managed to entangle himself first from the coils of arms and legs. He quickly cancelled the Disillusion Charm before turning to cast a diagnostic charm on Slughorn, who lay helpless and immobile on the floor, trussed up like a Christmas turkey, glaring daggers at the supposed Death Eater standing above him.

Draco bent down and searched the man's pockets. He found not much; a potion bottle was in an inside pocket of his jacket and he carried a small knife in another pocket. The crème silk handkerchief in the breast pocket of Slughorn's vest appeared harmless, but the detection spell showed that it was a transfigured wand! Draco snatched up the handkerchief and put it on the floor. When he waved his wand over it with "Finite Incantatem", the transfiguration was cancelled instantly and a reddish brown, short wand lay in its place.

"Great Draco, that's cool; you'll have to teach me that spell to detect a hidden wand," remarked Harry, who had scrambled up by now and was visible again, brushing down his robes and checking for his weapons.

"Yes, later," Draco answered his heart still racing, while he summoned the wand from the floor and deftly caught it. "Merlin Harry, you do have the most luck possible. We just escaped in time! Did you see Dumbledore come back?"

Hedwig flashed into the cell at that moment and landed on Harry's shoulder, trilling excitedly. "Oh hey girl, good to have you back." He greeted his phoenix familiar, before he answered Draco.

"Yeah, he must have felt us in the house; somehow he got suspicious, so he returned, without setting of that intruder alarm when he apparated into the hall. Hedwig told me that he went down the street and apparated away. Clever old fox, I have to admit that." He stopped before he looked at Hedwig. "Hedwig, what did Dumbledore do?"

Hedwig trilled her answer, which of course only Harry understood, so he explained to Draco, "Hedwig says that Dumbledore looked around the living room and cast diagnostic spells, then walked through the house and briefly looked into all the other rooms, he did not find anything that interested him, so he Disapparated again."

Draco frowned, musing over what Dumbledore could have discovered, thinking out loud. "I suppose he will have picked up traces from our spells, he will know magic has been used in the living room. Luckily we only cast three spells altogether, and nothing dark or very powerful, just as planned. We must hope he cannot identify our magical signatures from this little amount of magic used. Well, it should help that we used other wands, because as Headmaster he will have records or samples about the feeling of our 'normal' magic in School. He has no reason to connect both of us to this abduction; he will think it was a random Death Eater."

Harry thought a moment if Dumbledore could identify them otherwise and asked, "Do you think he can he feel magical auras and recognize a person that way? I don't think so; otherwise he would have known for example that the Dark Lord's spirit possessed Quirrell in first year or that the Alistair Moody in fourth year was really Barty, a supposedly dead man."

Draco raised a brow in question. "Barty…who is Barty?"

"Didn't you know?" Harry asked, very surprised; he had thought these events of fourth year were common knowledge among the Death Eaters. Maybe Lucius hadn't told Draco, or perhaps the Dark Lord did not explain what happened in detail to his followers that came to the graveyard.

"The Moody that was our DADA teacher was in reality Barty Crouch junior, the son of Barty Crouch from the Ministry of Magic," Harry explained.

"What? How? Why?" Draco asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Yes, it's quite a story. I'll explain more when we have some free time. Now I think we should look after our guest and tell the Dark Lord we are back," Harry said, turning towards Slughorn, who looked up at them with an expression of confusion, anger and fear.

Harry went over the last minutes in his head; did they give away who they were? Fuck, yes, right after landing in the cell, they had used each other's first names once and had talked about Dumbledore and magic at school, so he would know they were Hogwart's students.

Did Slughorn already suspect that the young man in Black Death Eater robes and mask called Harry was probably Harry Potter? Oh what shock, the poor old man.

Harry sniggered and sent an evil smirk at their fat captive, who lay on the cold, dirty dungeon floor, stretched out stiffly in the full body-bind and tightly bound with strong ropes, unable to move a finger or to speak. It must be very uncomfortable and frightening. Harry suddenly was very glad he had decided to choose the dark side, that prisoner on the floor could have been him, if things hadn't changed so profoundly.

"Do you want to go or shall I?" he asked Draco.

Draco looked up from studying their captive. "I'd rather stay here, to admire the view, and keep him safe of course," he drawled with feigned aloofness, and walked nonchalantly over to the left side of the cell. He used his wand to levitate the stiff body of Slughorn onto the cot mounted to the wall on the right side and settled down on the opposite cot. He sat in a relaxed, confident pose with his wand dangling loosely in his hand, leaning against the wall, with one leg straight out and the other bent up, foot flat on the cot.

Harry chuckled, "OK, I'll be back soon." He turned to walk away, but quickly turned back and walked over to Draco. A quick wave of his hand cancelled the charm holding the mask in place, allowing him to move it enough to press a brief kiss to the blond's lips.

"Go," Draco said as he pulled back from the kiss.

Harry chuckled and walked towards the bars that separated the cell from the hallway. He had realized that Draco was afraid of Voldemort and therefore preferred not to be the messenger.

With a softly hissed {Open up}, he opened the cell door, closing it tightly with a clang behind him. With a last look over his shoulder towards Draco and Slughorn, Harry marched down the dimly lit dungeon hallway, ignoring the ranting of a prisoner, who yelled for the person in charge. He chuckled darkly, and continued on his way.

When he reached the outer dungeon door, he again used the Parseltongue override password to open it. As soon as he stepped through, he found himself with a wand trust in his face and a fist grabbing the front of his robe.

"Halt! Who are you?" Mr. Goyle stared into his face, demanding gruffly. "You did not enter the dungeon from here."

"Easy, Mr. Goyle; it's me, Harry Potter," Harry finished removing his mask and smirked at the guard. "I delivered a special guest to cell number two with a portkey. Surely the Dark Lord informed you to expect another prisoner today?"

Goyle lowered his wand and backed off at once after recognizing Harry Potter. "Indeed, he mentioned that. Was it one prisoner or two? I noticed that there are two persons in that cell just now. Is everything alright?"

'Interesting,' thought Harry, 'so there are monitoring charms on the cellblocks.'

"There is one prisoner in cell number two, the other one in there at the moment is Draco Malfoy. He is guarding the prisoner until I have reported to the Dark Lord," Harry spoke out loud. "The prisoner is a Mr. Slughorn. Perhaps you know him? Anyways, he is not to be harmed or tortured; we have strict orders from our Lord to keep him in good condition. Do you understand?"

"Yes, alright Mr. Potter," answered Mr. Goyle. "Does he need anything right away, healing potion, water, food? Otherwise he will get his meal in the evening with the normal routine, well if he is still alive this evening, who knows..."

"Thank you, but no, I think it can wait until I have reported to our Lord," remarked Harry over his shoulder, already climbing up the stairs towards the first floor.

He knocked three times, and waited for the 'Enter' before he made his way inside. He saw that the man held an audience with a few Death Eaters and he bowed the moment he was in front of the Dark Lord.

"I am sorry to disturb you my Lord," he said, "but I thought it imperative to tell you the mission was a success."

"What of my...guest?" Voldemort was pleased with the news and a cruel smirk came on his face, scaring his followers.

"Exactly where you wanted him," Harry answered. "He is being kept over by my partner and a guard."

"Very well," Voldemort nodded. "Was there any trouble?"

"Some my Lord," Harry answered truthfully. "He was there, but it mattered not. We were able to carry out your orders without fully compromising ourselves."

Voldemort understood the message and nodded at Harry. "You are dismissed as well as your partner. I am very pleased with the both of you."

"Thank you my Lord," Harry murmured before he bowed once more and left the room.

Voldemort turned back to his few followers. "This meeting will be cut short. I will call upon you at a later date to finish this discussion. You are dismissed."

"Yes my Lord," chorused throughout and the Death Eaters bowed before leaving.

Voldemort smirked as he gathered his robes, pulling them around him, before making his way out of his rooms, warding the door securely behind him, and continued to the dungeons. He nodded at Goyle, before he entered the cell which housed his prisoner. He closed the door behind him and looked over his former teacher.

"Hello Horace," Voldemort said, he smirked as he watched the old man's face pale as fear filled his eyes.

A/N 2: and that is the whole chapter seven. How did you guys like it?
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Rise of the Dark Angel