Chapter Text
Flasback
"Parseltongue"
Chapter 3 – Meeting the family
A tired sigh left Albus, and he slumped a little on his armchair. He didn't have to look at them to know that Minerva and Severus weren't looking much better.
What a nightmare. In just a matter of minutes everything had been turned on it's head. And even now, hours after Voldemort had left with his students, he was still reeling from everything that had happened.
It took only a couple of seconds for panic to settle in once the Dark Lord had left. Students were screaming, hyperventilating, and a few had even fainted.
"Silence!" the Sonorous charm did it's job, and his voice managed to impose itself over the panicked students. They quieted down, looking up at the head table with eyes full of fear and anxiety.
Albus felt for them. They were far too young to have witnessed what they had.
"Please," he said softly, after removing the charm, "Please, keep calm. If you need it, Madam Pomfrey will provide calming potions for you. Otherwise, I ask that you stay seated while we call the aurors."
Poppy was already going around looking over the students that had fainted and those that were asking for calming potions. Albus almost sighed when he saw that the situation in the hall was somewhat under control.
"Filius could you please contact the DMLE? Tell Amelia that she and her aurors are needed at Hogwarts." Filius nodded, quickly leaving the hall through a side door.
"Albus, what will we do? What will we tell them?" Minerva asked, looking around the hall, "They took students, Albus. Amelia's own niece, her only family."
"We tell the truth, Minerva. There is nothing else we can do." Albus sighed and slumped on his seat.
"The truth," Severus sneered, "We are going to tell them that the Dark Lord's children from the future appeared here and that Potter, with his little friends, left the school with the Dark Lord? And let's not forget that said children were Potter's as well. Yes, I can see how that will go over well."
"Do you have a better idea?" Albus asked tiredly, "Because if you do, I am all ears."
Severus pursed his lips, looking away. No, he didn't have a better idea. But that didn't change the fact that he thought that the current one was a horrible idea. Even he, who had seen it happen, still couldn't believe it; how did they expect for others to believe it when people were still on the fence about the return of the Dark Lord?
Well, the dead body may help convince them, or at least the DMLE. Though he doubted that it would make much of a difference to Fudge. He could be wrong though. Slytherins had gone as well, Draco being one of them, maybe Lucius would do something about Fudge. He knew for a fact that the Dark Lord had ordered Lucius not to interfere with what Fudge was doing to Potter because it suited his needs, now though... now everything had changed.
Since he had become a spy for Albus he knew that death was only a breath away. Now though... if he were lucky Potter would still think him a loyal Death Eater and not tell the Dark Lord anything; however, considering just how much the brat hated him, he could tell the Dark Lord that he was a spy just to see him dead.
Potter, he sneered, it was always Potter.
He was brought out of his thoughts when the doors to the Great Hall were banged open, announcing the arrival of Bones with around a dozen aurors, Kingsley and Tonks among them.
The students jumped when they heard the noise, though fortunately Poppy had already dosed many of them with a calming potion so there was no other reaction aside from that.
"Albus," Amelia said sternly as soon as she reached the head table, her eyes widening slightly when she saw Umbridge's body, "Proudfoot," she snapped, motioning towards the body before glancing back to Dumbledore, "I hope, Albus, that you have an explanation for this."
"In fact I do, Amelia," Albus sighed, "No matter how unbelievable it is."
"Did the students witness the death?" Amelia asked, noticing how agitated the students were.
"They did, yes." Albus answered tiredly.
"I see," Amelia pursed her lips, while her eyes swept over the assembled students, "I'll have to ask the students to remain here so that my aurors can question them once we had our talk." Albus nodded, looking older than she had ever seen him, "It isn't good, is it?" she asked.
"No, my dear, it isn't."
Amelia felt like cursing when she saw the truth in his eyes, she hadn't see that look since the war.
"Alright," she sighed, "Tonks, Kingsley, Proudfoot, Roberts, and Savage with me. The rest of you stay here. No one leaves, am I understood?"
"Yes, ma'am." they chorused.
"Good. Dumbledore, lead the way."
Amelia wasn't all that surprised when Minerva and Snape followed them while the other professors chose to stay behind. She would have to interview them as well.
They followed Dumbledore out of the Great Hall, and in no time at all were sitting in the Headmaster's office. What followed was the most absurd thing she had ever heard and only the fact that it was Albus telling it stopped her from looking at him as if he were as crazy as people accused him of being, though she had to admit that Umbridge's dead body helped as well.
"So, what you're telling me, is that the children of the Dark Lord, who are also Harry Potter's children, popped into the Great Hall from the future and that Potter, with a few of his friends, left Hogwarts with said children and the Dark Lord? And that Umbridge was killed by the Dark Lord? Is that right?"
"Yes, Amelia, that is what I told you." Albus said gravely and she closed her eyes.
How she wished that he was lying. She had been one of the few that truly believed that the Dark Lord was back, especially after the debacle with the dementors showing up in Surrey. Besides, Cornelius was trying far to hard to discredit a teenager for her to think that the lad was lying. If there were no cause for concern then Cornelius wouldn't have been as agitated as he was. So, yes, she believed that the Dark Lord was back, but this?
Time-travel on such a scale was supposed to be impossible, not only that but Potter and the Dark Lord? Both of them together? The icon of the Light a Dark Lord? It was simply unbelievable. What could make a person join their parents' killer? What could make someone turn their back-
As soon as that thought popped into her mind she had to contain a grimace. The Wizarding World as a whole didn't seem to treat Potter all that well. She could remember her niece sending her letters telling her just how fickle the Hogwarts students as a whole were when it concerned Potter. The articles in the Daily Prophet certainly didn't help.
She supposed that the right question would be how Potter hadn't left them earlier.
"Who went with him?" she asked, already dreading having to notify the families. How would she explain that their children had left with the Dark Lord that the Ministry insisted wasn't back?
"Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, the four youngest Weasley children; Fred, George, Ronald and Ginerva, Luna Lovegood, Terry Boot, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, Graham Montague, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, and Susan Bones."
Amelia felt her heart stop.
Susan? Her Susan? No, that couldn't be true. Susan wouldn't do that. She would never join the Dark. Never. Not after everything they had lost.
"Are you certain?" she couldn't help but ask, not even caring that there was a slight tremble in her tone.
"I am sorry, Amelia." Albus bowed his head and that was all the confirmation she needed.
"Why didn't you stop them?" she snapped, knowing that she was losing her cool but not really caring, not when her niece, the last of her family, was gone.
"They were threatening the students," Albus explained, seeming to age in front of her eyes, "It was a risk I couldn't take."
"A risk you couldn't take?" she asked incredulously, "So you just let the Dark Lord kidnap eighteen students?!"
"Amelia," Minerva's stern voice snapped her out of her anger, "They weren't kidnapped, Amelia. No matter how hard it is to accept, the truth of the matter is that all those students went willingly, not so much with the Dark Lord but with Potter, and Potter believed that the only way to protect his children was to go with the Dark Lord, since he was the other father. Potter's friends chose to follow him and support him."
"Some friends Potter managed to gather," Savage murmured, sounding a little bit impressed. He quickly raised his hands when he saw the glare being aimed at him from his colleagues, "I'm only saying, most of those are Light families. To follow Potter into the Dark so willingly... well, Potter must be something else."
Snape snorted, though Minerva and Albus had a look of pride in their eyes for a fraction of a second.
"Yes," Albus agreed, a small smile on his lips, "Harry truly is something else."
"Be that as it may," Amelia interrupted, doing her best to keep her composure, even though the only thing she wanted to do was find her niece, "We have to question the students in the Great Hall as well as notify the parents of the missing students."
"Amelia," Albus interjected before she could get up from her seat, "I will be calling a meeting once you are done with questioning the students, if you wouldn't mind I will tell Molly and Arthur about their children."
She nodded slowly, knowing he was talking about the Order of the Phoenix, an organization that her brothers had been proud members of. She also knew that a few of her aurors were members, and even though she didn't like that someone else had some amount of control over her aurors, she understood the need for the organization to exist, especially since the Ministry could not be trusted at the moment.
"Very well, I'll leave the Weasleys to you." She got up and left the office without another word. She had a long night in front of her, and she wanted it over with so that she could contact her niece. Hopefully an owl would be able to reach her, and if not... well, she had other methods to contact blood family.
Amelia had left just a few minutes ago and it was already early morning. The students had been more than tired and had gone to bed as soon as the aurors had dismissed them, looking far more asleep than awake. The professors had been no better truth be told.
Though the day was nowhere near done for them.
"We should go to Grimmauld," Albus told them, trying to hide just how exhausted he was, "We need to call an Order meeting as soon as possible."
"Of course," Minerva sighed getting up from her seat, "Arthur and Molly must be told. Sirius and Remus as well."
Severus sneered though he didn't say anything, something for which Albus was quite thankful. He was far too tired to deal with their constant arguing.
He grabbed the Order medallion that every member had, and alerted them that there was to be a meeting, while he gestured his two colleagues towards the floo.
Faster than he thought, considering the time, Order members started to appear. Remus and Sirius being the first, both stumbling into the kitchen looking alert but still slightly out of it. Soon after Kingsley and Tonks joined them, both looking grim.
In a matter of minutes the kitchen was full, some looking more awake than others, but present all the same.
"Has something happened?" Molly was the first to ask, when she saw the grave looks on their faces.
Albus sighed and motioned for all of them to sit down.
"I am afraid I have grave news."
He could feel all of them tense, their eyes sweeping over the Order members to make sure that they were all present, that none of them had been hurt, or worse.
"Voldemort made his first move," the silence that followed was almost suffocating, "However, it was not truly his decision to make it. His hand was forced."
"What happened?" Sirius looked uncommonly serious, and Albus was afraid that this would be the thing that would push Sirius over the edge.
"While we were having dinner at Hogwarts, a magical occurrence in the Great Hall brought four people from the future, four children to be more precise."
"Four children?" Molly asked, slightly confused, "What does that have to do with the Dark Lord? And how is it possible for people from the future to appear in the Great Hall?"
"As for how they appeared, I do not know since we were unable to question them; and how it involves the Dark Lord well, truthfully it is quite unbelievable, however the children claim to be the sons of the Dark Lords Voldemort and Hades, the rulers of the Wizarding World."
"What?" the whisper came from Hestia, who was looking just as lost as most of the Order members in the room, "The rulers of the Wizarding World? The Light lost? We lost?"
Albus closed his eyes for a moment then nodded.
"It would seem so." he replied, and he loathed the despair that filled their eyes.
"Where are the kids?" Alastor grumbled, "You should bring them here so we can question them about the future. About what we did wrong, about what we can change to stop Voldemort from winning."
"The children... Voldemort invaded Hogwarts and took the children." Albus confessed.
"And you let him?" Alastor snapped, "How did Voldemort even know that the kids were there?"
"From what I understood, the other father of the children contacted him as soon as he saw that we were trying to keep the children there." Albus told him, dreading having to tell them just who the other father was.
"The other father?" Sirius whispered, "It couldn't be a professor, so it must have been a student. A student became that other Dark Lord? Hades, was it? Just what kind of kid becomes a Dark Lord and willingly sleeps with that monster? Just who is it?"
Albus really should have foreseen what followed.
"Why, Black, your beloved godson."
The glee in the Potions Master voice was hard to ignore, the malicious glint in those eyes even less so. Albus truly should have seen it coming, but he had hoped that just once Severus would have been able to put that old grudge behind him.
A deafening growl filled the room and all eyes flew to Remus, who's eyes were bleeding amber.
"Explain." came the sharp order, and Albus did just that.
Albus told them everything, from the moment he felt the magic reacting to something til the moment eighteen students left with Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
It felt like eons before anyone reacted to the information he had given them.
Sirius stood so suddenly that his chair crashed to the floor. Without looking at any of them he left the kitchen, Remus following hot on his heels. Albus threw Severus a sharp glare when he saw his spy opening his mouth, no doubt to mock both men. Truly, sometimes he behaved as childish as he accused both Marauders of being.
Another chair crashed, and he saw Molly leaving the kitchen. He was thankful that there were no tears in her eyes, though he wasn't sure if the blank look she had was any better. William and Arthur quickly followed her, neither of them saying a word.
The rest of the Order wasn't faring much better. He didn't think he had ever seen them look so defeated, even Alastor seemed to have the fight knocked out of him.
"Albus," Emmeline sounded so unsure that he was reminded of the young girl that joined the Order all those years ago, "What are we going to do?"
"I... I truly do not know, my dear," he admitted, "The only thing we can do is keep fighting."
"Fighting a lost battle?" Tonks asked, looking defeated.
"The future is not set in stone." Albus argued.
"True," Alastor nodded, "However Potter's inheritance is," he said gravely, "Potter is a Necromancer. They are the darkest beings that ever walked this earth. When they stopped appearing and were declared extinct everyone, even Dark Wizards, breathed in relief. There's a reason why they were feared by so many. They were called Death's children for Merlin's sake. Not even death would bring a reprieve to those that angered a Necromancer. Potter is a Necromancer, he will never be Light, and the Light will never accept him. We don't even need the kids to know how Voldemort won the damn war!" Alastor exclaimed, "He had Potter, a Necromancer, on his side. That's how he won!"
Severus snorted, looking at all of them with disdain.
"You are giving the Potter brat far too much credit. He's a below average wizard, who believes the world revolves around him."
Alastor looked at Severus with so much contempt that Albus was surprised his old friend was able to muster so much negativity.
"You're a fool, Snape," Alastor shook his head in disgust, "A Necromancer has to have above average power, otherwise they wouldn't not be able to hold the death magic. The Peverell brothers were some of the most famous Necromancers of the age, and everyone knows just how gifted they were and their blood runs in the Potter bloodline. From what Albus told us those children played all of you. The Granger girl was right, all of you were willfully blind, you saw what you wanted to see. Especially you, Snape."
"My friends," Albus interfered when he saw Severus getting ready to argue back, "We gain nothing by arguing amongst ourselves. We are all on edge. I believe it is best to go rest and try to come up with a solution when our minds had time to process everything that happened."
"Albus is right," Minerva added, "We are all tired, continuing this meeting at the current time will do us no good."
There were several mutters of agreement and the meeting dispersed, Severus being one of the first to leave.
Albus waited for all of them to leave before he went towards the floo. While he threw the glittering powder into the fire, and called for his office, he couldn't help but think that this was the first time in a long time that he had no idea what to do.
"Are you alright, Sirius?" Remus asked cautiously, knowing just how volatile Sirius could be.
"Am I alright?" Sirius muttered, "What do you think, Remus? I just learned that my godson joined Voldemort."
"Well, technically, he didn't really join Voldemort, as in he became a second Dark Lord."
"Yes, because that is so much better," Sirius grumbled, "Merlin, I need a drink."
"I don't think you are the only one," a voice from the doorway replied and both men turned to see the three eldest Weasleys.
"Arthur," Remus sighed, "How are you?"
"We're fine," Arthur smiled, "It is a bit of a shock, but we are fine."
"Mum, what are you doing?" the three older men turned towards Bill who was looking at his mother with a small frown.
"Those children," Molly muttered, "Nothing but headaches. If they think they can just disappear like that they have another thing coming," she continued ranting, before pulling out her wand and charming the parchment she had pulled out of a drawer, "YOU CHILDREN ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? DISSAPEARING FROM HOGWARTS WITHOUT TELLING US ANYTHING? WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU..." as soon as Arthur realized what his wife was doing he raced towards her and tried to take the parchment from her grasp, not that he disagreed with the sentiment, he just didn't think it was a good idea to send a howler to the Dark Lord. Finally he was able to get hold of the parchment, "You have to understand that your mother is worried, we aren't angry, just worried. Please send us a letter as soon as you can, just so we know you are safe." he said as calmly as possible before the parchment was taken from his grasp, "And Harry, you better tell that Dark Lord of yours that he better send a portkey with that letter, we want to meet our grandchildren." with those final words Molly tapped the parchment with her wand, finalizing the spell for the howler. "Take this to one of the owls, Bill. Send that letter to Harry."
Bill opened his mouth to argue but one look from his mother had him picking up the letter and scurrying out of the room. He may be a full grown man, but his mother scared the crap out of him.
"You... you want to go to the Dark Lord's headquarters? To see the children?" Sirius asked in a whisper.
Molly looked at the man, and a soft smile appeared on her features.
"They are my children, Harry and Hermione too. So even if they make decisions that I don't agree with or don't understand, that doesn't change the fact that they are my children, and I will always support them. Besides, those children from the future, no matter who their other parent is, they are Harry's, they are family. That's all that matters."
"Voldemort killed Lily and James." Sirius said weakly and Molly nodded.
"He did, and his followers killed my brothers," Molly sat beside Sirius and ran her hand through the messy locks, just as she did for her children when they were feeling lost, "But he loves our Harry. You know they would never have been able to have those children if there was no love between them. Magic would never have blessed their union with such gifts if it were devoid of love, you know that Sirius."
"I think that's what makes it so hard to believe," Sirius murmured, "That a monster like Voldemort could love."
"Maybe we were mistaken about him," Molly suggested gently, "I do not see Harry falling in love with a monster. Do you?"
"I... no, no, I guess not." Sirius exhaled, slumping on the couch.
"Don't get so worked up about it," Molly smiled at him, "Let us wait for their reply, that's all we can do at the moment."
"Alright," Sirius sighed, "Alright."
Remus smiled, taking a seat on a nearby armchair, while Arthur sat on the other side of his wife. Bill joined them not a minute later, and all of them stayed in the secluded parlor, waiting for their family to contact them.
Harry's plan to go back to his breakfast and get out if it with his sanity intact worked rather well, for all of five seconds.
Somehow, don't ask him how, one of the twins' prank products had ended up on the table and one of the Lestrange brothers ate it, leaving in his place a big, bright yellow canary.
For a couple of seconds no one moved.
Then the canary squawked.
The first to lose it were his sons. They were laughing so hard that Ares had fallen from his chair and Erebus was clutching his stomach, tears running down his cheeks.
His friends were doing their best not to laugh at the unfortunate Death Eater, though when the other Lestrange snorted all control they may have had was completely shoot.
Hermione tried to looked stern, but there was a twitch in her lips giving her away.
Harry chuckled and shook his head.
"Uncle Bastan ate a Canary Cream!" Sal exclaimed with a huge grin on his lips.
"He always falls for the twins' tricks." Erus added.
"Is this a common occurrence in the future?" Voldemort asked, and even though he looked serious Harry could see the mirth in his eyes.
"Uncle Bastan gets turned into an animal at least once a week." Erus informed them solemnly, though his eyes were just as mirthful as his father's.
Harry snorted and looked at the twins fondly.
"It's good to know that some things don't change." Harry murmured.
"Run uncle Fred, uncle George!" Ares shouted, "Uncle Bastan is gonna get you!"
The twins didn't need to be told twice, they vacated the premisses so fast they could have apparated. Not a second later the canary molted and a smirking Rabastan was hot on their heels.
"Don't worry," the other Lestrange's, Rodolphus', deep voice captured Harry's attention and he saw him looking at Ron and Ginny who were glancing at the door with a worried look, "Rabastan can take a joke. He won't harm them. Maybe turn them purple or so."
Hermione snorted.
"Great, another one." she mumbled making Rodolphus laugh.
"Rabastan actually got into quite a few prank wars with the Marauders. They were a couple of years below me and one year below Rabastan. My brother always enjoyed their pranks, but he would never praise a Gryffindor, so he challenged them to prank wars." Rodolphus had a small smile on his lips, and Harry thought he looked nothing like the deranged criminal that he was portrayed as.
"Prank wars that you were only too happy to help him with." Lucius drawled, smirking at his brother-in-law.
"I don't know what you mean," Rodolphus huffed making Sal giggle.
"Uncle Dolphus is the bestest at being sneaky," Salazar told them proudly, smiling at his uncle.
"The best." Erus corrected, smiling at his younger brother.
"Yes!" Sal giggled, "The best!" he confirmed with a firm nod.
"Why, thank you, young Prince." Rodolphus bowed his head solemnly, earning a joyful laugh from his youngest son.
Harry couldn't help but smile when he saw their interactions. Seeing his children so happy filled him with such joy. He may have been unsure about his decision to follow Voldemort, but seeing them so carefree was worth it.
He caught Voldemort's eyes and saw the same joy, tainted with disbelieve, in that crimson gaze.
"Papa," both of them glanced at Ares, noticing that everyone had returned to their breakfast, and there seemed to be a lot less tension then before, "When's grandma Molly coming?"
Harry froze. For a moment he had forgotten about that howler.
"Your dad and I will talk about it and then arrange a portkey." Voldemort said before he could even think and he looked at the man incredulously, "Are all four of you done with your breakfast?" Voldemort continued, ignoring his stare.
"Yes, papa." Sal and Ares replied, while Erebus and Erus nodded.
"Good," Voldemort nodded, "Go to your rooms, I'm sure the house-elves will have clothing ready for you. Then go to the family room to wait for your grandmother Molly, you may pick up a few books in the library to pass the time, though there are a few shelves with books in the family room as well."
"Alright, papa!" Sal chirped, jumping from his seat and sprinting to his room.
"Wait, Sal!" Ares raced after his younger brother, while Erus and Erebus followed them at a slower pace.
"Watch over them," Harry said, turning towards his friends, "Ask the elves for directions."
His friends complied without complaint, smiling at him on their way out. Harry turned back towards Voldemort only to lock eyes with a burning crimson stare.
"What?" he finally snapped, when Voldemort didn't look away.
"It's interesting to see how they follow you so faithfully. No wonder you became a Dark Lord, with such loyal followers, how could you not?" Voldemort remarked, his eyes never leaving Harry.
"I am sorry, my Lord," only when Lucius called him did those eyes leave Harry, making Harry want to slump on his chair, "Did you say that Potter became a Dark Lord?" Lucius wasn't the only one looking at him with disbelieve and Harry felt somewhat proud to have been able to break the Malfoy mask.
"I did," Voldemort sounded incredibly smug, and Harry just wanted to slap that smug smirk from his face, "He became the Dark Lord Hades. I wondered about the name, but now it makes perfect sense, doesn't it, my little Necromancer?"
"I'm not a Necromancer!" Harry exclaimed, and after a moment added, "And I'm not yours." he glared for good measure. Though if the hungry gaze on him was any indication it hadn't been all that effective.
"Not yet." Voldemort murmured and Harry narrowed his eyes at him.
"My future self must have been completely out of his mind, that's the only explanation." Harry mumbled, earning a sharp laugh from Voldemort and a smile full of teeth.
"We'll find out soon enough," Voldemort told him, and Harry would never admit it but that grin did all sorts of damage to him, he was almost sure it was poisonous, how else could he explain his suddenly racing heart? "This is my Inner Circle," Voldemort said suddenly, "You already know Lucius, then it's Rabastan who ran off after your twins, his brother Rodolphus, Bellatrix, Antonin, Thorfinn, Theodore, his son helped yesterday at Hogwarts, and Travers. Severus is also part of my Inner Circle-"
"Slippery little snake, isn't he?" Harry sneered, interrupting Voldemort and making all the Death Eaters present look at him wide eyed, "Isn't it funny how he manged to slither into such high standing positions on either side of the war?" Harry continued, completely ignoring the looks he was getting, "Why, no matter who wins Snape ends up on top, imagine that." he drawled, his eyes looking like two blocks of ice.
"You truly despise him," Voldemort stated with a note of wonder.
"If I could I would have ripped his heart out and used it in one of his beloved potions." Harry stated coldly, surprising all present, "I don't care if he's in your Inner Circle, if he's an invaluable asset, hell, I don't even care if he's your lover, if that man even breaths near our children I'll flay him alive, do you understand?"
Voldemort let out a dark chuckle that made a shiver run down all of the Death Eaters' spins.
"I understand, my little Necromancer," Voldemort sounded far too pleased and Harry narrowed his eyes, "As I was saying, this is my Inner Circle, they'll protect our children."
Harry glanced at all of them, trying to take everything in.
"I hope you know," he started, letting go of the constant hold he had on his magic, making them gasp as the full strength of all his magic crashed upon them, constricting their breathing, resonating with their own magic and demanding submission, "That if anything happens to my sons while under your watch, nothing on this earth will keep you safe from me, not even death will be a mercy."
As suddenly as it had appeared the magic was gone, back under Harry's tight control, and the Death Eaters slumped on their seats, their breathing ragged and their eyes wide. A moment later they had themselves under control and all of them went down on their knees.
"Yes, my Lord," they intoned.
Harry hadn't been expecting the rush that filled him when he saw them. Their submission tasted divine. For a fraction of a second he almost got lost in it. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, regaining his usual control.
"Dismissed," Voldemort's dark purr filled the silence ,and the Death Eaters left the room, leaving both powerful wizards alone for the first time.
"Aren't you full of surprises," Voldemort murmured, never looking away from his little Necromancer. He hadn't expected that display of power. Harry's magic was so dark, so seductive, and there was so much of it. He couldn't believe the control Harry had over it. That, more than anything, showed that they were telling the truth when they said that they had all been using masks. He couldn't believe that Harry hadn't lost control in the graveyard while he was under the Cruciatus. It was something to be praised. Of course, it just made him want the teen even more. It made him understand how the teen had managed to capture his interest so thoroughly that they ended up producing four beautiful children together.
"They wanted the Boy-Who-Lived," Harry said somewhat bitterly, "I gave them what they wanted."
"You friends?" Voldemort asked, intrigued despite himself.
"They knew what the world expected of them," Harry told him, "Hermione no matter how good she is would never be good enough, all because of her blood. Ron, it didn't matter how hard he worked, he would always be a Weasley. Neville would always be the kid who's parents he would never live up too. We knew what they saw us as."
"You could have changed that," Voldemort argued, "You could have shown them that they were wrong."
Harry snorted and a small smirk appeared on his lips.
"And you call yourself a Slytherin," there was just the slightest teasing tone to his words, "If we did that they would have watched us even more closely. If I had been sorted into Slytherin and showed them my true skill and power I would have been considered a Dark Lord from the beginning. Even with me being the perfect Gryffindor there were whispers, every other year, about me being a Dark Lord. So, you can imagine how bad it would have been if I had gone to Slytherin."
"So you just fought for something you don't believe in? You let the old man turn you into a weapon and icon for the Light?" there was a trace of anger in Voldemort's words.
"At the moment it was to my benefit to play that part," Harry told him calmly, "Once you were dead I would have been in a position that would have allowed me to move more freely. My friends and I were already discussing what we would change in the Ministry once we became 'War Heroes'."
"What if they turned on you once you had won the war? Haven't you ever thought that they could just deem you too powerful and just imprison you?"
"Of course we did," Harry snorted, "We thought about that every day. We have contingency plans for that. We would have just disappeared, never to be heard from again. We looked into potions to change out magical signature and our appearance permanently. We have wills leaving a lot of things to our new identities, wills that are sealed and wouldn't be able to be read by anyone but our new identities. We planned ahead, Voldemort. We were more than ready to let this world burn if it turned on us."
"I am pleasantly surprised by your ruthlessness." Voldemort admitted. Truthfully it wasn't only Harry's ruthlessness that pleased him. He was truly pleased that Harry was far more than he appeared. It seemed that his spies were all wrong about the boy. Maybe not wrong, but willingly blind. The little Malfoy had always been jealous and bitter that Harry didn't even spare him a glance and Severus... well, Severus was the personification of a bitter, old man. A man so consumed by his past that he wasn't able to see anything beyond it. It was a shame, he had always thought that Severus was a stronger man than that, such a disappointment he was turning out to be.
"You wanted to talk about Mrs. Weasley?" Harry pointedly changed the subject. He didn't want to think about the way his heart beat faster when Voldemort told him he was pleased. Merlin, those looks the man had were a deadly weapon. He was really happy that he had looked like a snake/human hybrid in the graveyard, he would never have lived it down if he had been drooling about Voldemort's good looks when he later told his friends about it. And they would have been able to tell, they always could.
"Yes," Voldemort nodded, taking the subject change in stride, "I am willing to make a portkey for your family, however they must make an Oath that they will reveal nothing of what happens in my Headquarters."
"I'm sure that they'll agree to that. How many people?"
"Six at most, none of those six people can be Dumbledore."
"That's reasonable," Harry murmured, "Why are you being so accommodating?" Harry couldn't stop himself from asking.
"We have children together," Voldemort said, "Magic wouldn't have blessed us with that if there was nothing between us. I do not know how our feelings changed. How they evolved from attraction, and do not deny that there is attraction between us, Harry, to something deeper. What I know is that it did," Voldemort's eyes darkened and Harry was sure that he would drown in them, "I never thought that it would be something that would happen to me. I am sure you understand, no one ever wanted me for me. They wanted Voldemort, the power they would gain by being the Dark Lord's consort. I would never let myself be used in such a way. Besides, I never met anyone who truly captured my attention, they were always so... predictable."
"And I'm not?" Harry asked, slightly surprised by what Voldemort had told him. He had never expected that from the man. Never expected him to be honest.
"You're not." Voldemort confirmed.
Sirius wasn't sure how long they stayed in the small parlour before Molly ushered them all back to the kitchen to give them breakfast. He could see that she was only going through the motions, not that he blamed her. They were all anxious.
Would Harry reply? Were they safe? Would they get a portkey? What if it turned out to be a trap?
On and on those questions raced through his mind, and he knew the others weren't any better. Fortunately, no one from the Order had remained behind, he didn't think any of them wanted to deal with them.
"What about Charlie?" Bill suddenly asked, making his father look at him.
"What about Charlie, Bill?" Molly frowned.
"Shouldn't we tell him about Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny? About what happened?"
"I don't think it would do much good to tell him anything at the moment, son." Arthur sighed, "It would only worry him, once we have more information we'll tell him."
"Don't worry, dear," Molly put a hand on Bill's shoulder, squeezing slightly, "Charlie is the most open minded out of all of us. He won't condemn his siblings for their choices."
"I know, mum," Bill murmured, smiling slightly, "Charlie was always a big sof-"
Whatever Bill had been about to say was interrupted by a loud hoot. Only then did they notice an owl perching on the counter, looking quite annoyed. Though, they were hardly paying the owl any attention, their eyes fixed on the parchment tied to it's leg.
Another, far louder, hoot, brought them out of their stupor and all of them tried to grab the parchment, startling the poor owl who flapped her wings and tried to move away from the clearly insane humans. Remus finally managed to grab the parchment and the owl lost no time in flying away, lamenting the fact that she had been the one chosen to fly to the crazy humans.
"Is it..." Sirius wasn't able to finish his question. Not that he needed to, Remus knew what he wanted to know.
"Yes," he said, looking at the parchment that was sealed with a Dark Mark, leaving no doubt about it's sender.
"What are you waiting for?" Molly asked anxiously, "Open it!"
"Maybe I should have a look at it first?" Bill suggested, "Just to be safe." he added quickly when he saw that his mum was about to argue.
"I believe Bill's right," Arthur agreed, holding onto Molly's shoulder's, "It's better to be safe than sorry."
Remus nodded, handing the parchment to Bill. All four of them sat anxiously around Bill while he ran every spell he could think of over the parchment. What felt like an eternity later, but was only ten minutes, Bill put the parchment down.
"I could find nothing harmful in it. There are spells on it, some I could identify as a portkey. I could identify two of those, so it must be a two way portkey. Then there's another one that seems to work as a password identification, and another one that looks like a passenger restriction."
"So... the letter is safe to read?" Remus asked.
"Yes, it should be." Bill confirmed.
With shaking fingers Sirius picked up the letter, opening it under the attentive gaze of the others and read it out load.
'Hello all,
I want to start by assuring all of those reading this letter that we are fine. We are sorry for causing you worry, however there comes a time in a person's life were choices must be made. Our time was now.
We always knew it would come sooner or later, we just weren't expecting for it to be as it was. We don't regret it. These boys are my children, I would side with the devil himself if it meant protecting them. I am just thankful to have such amazing friends that would stand with me even in a situation such as this.
I do not know what Dumbledore has told you, though if he disclosed everything that happened then you know that we haven't been entirely honest. I truly hope you don't take that to heart. It was the only way we could think of that wouldn't hurt us. We saw how prejudiced our world is, be it the Dark or the Light, and as young as we were, we understood what was expected of us. None of us wanted to be in the limelight for not meeting those expectations. I hope you understand, but if you don't that's alright too. We knew the price of our choices, and it is something we are willing to live with.
Voldemort has agreed to have you visit. He provided a portkey that will take up to six people to where we are at. The letter you are holding is said portkey.
For the portkey to activate you will have to swear an Oath that you will reveal nothing of what you see at Voldemort's Headquarters, also Dumbledore is not allowed to be one of the people coming with the portkey. The portkey will be active for five hours, after those five hours it will destroy itself, and you'll lose your opportunity to come. The Oath you'll have to take is enclosed underneath.
I hope we will see you soon,
Harry
Oath: I, name, swear upon my magic that I will reveal no information about the Dark Order that I may learn about while I am at the Dark Lord's Headquarters to parties that intend to harm those siding with the Dark Order.
P.S.: I know that the Oath has some loopholes, as does Voldemort, I hope that even if you find those loopholes you wouldn't betray the trust that is being given you.'
Harry was in Voldemort's room fidgeting slightly. Once Voldemort had taken care of the portkey, and Harry had written the letter and sent it off with a rather put open looking owl, Voldemort had dragged him back to his room, stating that Harry couldn't walk around in his sleeping clothes for the rest of the day. Then the Dark Lord proceeded to usher him to his wardrobe and told him to pick something while the Dark Lord walked through a door that could only be a bathroom, since not a minute later Harry could hear a shower running.
So, here he was, almost ten minutes later, still looking at the wardrobe as if it were a seven headed monster ready to tear him to pieces.
"Have you picked something?" the smooth voice brought him out of his thoughts. He swiftly turned towards where it was coming from only for his breath to catch in his throat and all the blood to flow to his cheeks.
Merlin, was this a new form of torture Voldemort had devised?
Voldemort was leaning against the doorway to the bathroom, a small towel wrapped around his hips, while droplets of water ran down his well defined chest and stomach. The smug little smirk that was on his lips wasn't helping Harry at all.
"I can see you haven't," Voldemort continued walking into the room. Harry took several steps back, his legs colliding with the bed, making him lose his balance and fall backwards onto it. Voldemort chuckled, his eyes roving over the expanse of his body, "You should go take a shower," Voldemort told him, turning towards the wardrobe, "I'll leave your clothing on the bed with charms on them so that they re-size themselves to fit you. Go on," Voldemort made shooing motions when Harry lay frozen on the bed, "You want to be ready before your family arrives, don't you?"
Harry though was still frozen, his eyes on Voldemort's back. Only when Voldemort dropped the towel that was wrapped around his lower half did he move. He practically jumped from the bed, and raced towards the bathroom. He was perfectly fine with ignoring the squeak that left him as well as the dark chuckle that followed him into the bathroom.
Merlin, how was it possible for him to be so calm and collected when threatening Death Eaters or having a conversation with Voldemort, but in this situation he didn't seem to be able to string a sentence together? Maybe Ginny was right, he was completely hopeless when it involved anything romantic or intimate. Not that he and Voldemort had anything between them that was romantic and intimate... no, nothing at all. He valiantly contained a groan and quickly jumped into the shower. Maybe if he ignored it, whatever it was, it would go away. One could hope.
As soon as he was done with the shower Harry let his magic flow freely for a little bit, just enough to see if there was anyone in the room. Once he made sure that Voldemort wasn't in the bedroom, he sighed in relief and left the bathroom.
He saw the clothes on the bed, just as Voldemort had told him. He didn't lose any time in looking them over. He got dressed as fast as he could, feeling highly exposed being practically naked in Voldemort's bedroom. Once dressed he called a house-elf, asking it for directions.
He was pleased to note that the family room wasn't all that far from the bedroom. When he was one corridor away he could already hear the laughter from his youngest sons, and a smile came to his lips. He didn't think he would ever tire of that sound.
"Daddy!" the high pitched squeal had him laughing while he caught Sal, who had jumped at him as soon as he was through the threshold.
"Hey, little Prince. Have you been causing trouble for your aunts and uncles?" he asked, looking around and seeing all his friends sitting on the couches or on the floor, in the case of the twins, both of them whispering with Erebus with maniac grins on their lips, while a few Death Eaters, Rabastan, Rodolphus, Antonin, and Travers, were spread around the room.
"No," Sal told him innocently, "Aunt 'Mione was reading me a story. When's grandma coming?" Sal's question caught the attention of his brothers, who were all looking at Harry.
"Your father and I sent your grandma Molly a portkey, they should come once they get it." Harry smiled at them, "What was Aunt 'Mione reading to you?"
"A story!" Sal exclaimed, squirming to be let down and racing back to Hermione, babbling a mile a minute about the story. Hermione smiled at him fondly, pulling Sal onto her lap and opened the book to the right page to continue the story.
"Say, Harry," he glanced at Justin who was looking at him with a mischievous smile, "Those aren't the clothes you had yesterday..."
Harry couldn't stop the blush from rising to his cheeks, earning laughs from his friends.
"Oh, I haven't see him blush like that since second year," Terry said gleefully.
"Where did you get the clothes since all our things are back at Hogwarts?" Hannah asked innocently, but Harry wasn't fooled. He could see the wicked gleam in her eyes.
"These are Voldemort's clothes." he grumbled, throwing himself on a nearby armchair, scowling at his friends' teasing. Though, he kinda liked the slight spluttering he heard coming from the Death Eaters.
"Already wearing the boyfriend's clothes?" Fred teased, waggling his eyebrows.
"Voldemort isn't my boyfriend!" Harry spluttered, making his friends laugh.
"Daddy's right," Ares nodded solemnly, "Daddy and papa aren't boyfriends," he said causing the laughter to stop abruptly. Even Harry was looking at his son curiously. Voldemort and he weren't together?
"Is that so?" a silky voice by the door whispered, and Harry felt himself tense slightly just by hearing that dark, velvety tone.
"Yes, papa," Ares nodded again, "You and daddy are married. You always say that daddy is yours forever and ever, like in the stories with princes and princesses."
Voldemort's eyes found his, and Harry's blush darkened.
"Mine!" Voldemort stated with such possessiveness that it left Harry breathless.
"I'm not yours." Harry argued, but it lacked the certainty that Voldemort had.
"Not yet, but rest assured, I will not rest until you are." Voldemort promised him and Harry would never admit it but knowing that someone was willing to do so much to have him made him feel slightly flattered, the fact that it was Voldemort just heightened that feeling.
Voldemort walked into the room, taking a seat beside Erus who seemed to be absorbed in some ancient tome.
"This does raise a good question though," Susan frowned, "What will we do about our things? We left everything at Hogwarts."
"Harry has friends in the right places," Luna's dreamy voice came from behind him and he saw her gliding out of a row of shelves, "He'll just have to ask."
Ask? Friends?
"Oh," Harry murmured before a wide smile lit up his expression, "Dobby!" he called and an instant later a pop was heard in the room.
"Harry Potter sir called for Dobby?" the little house-elf was jumping in place, looking as pleased as could be.
"Hello, Dobby," Harry smiled fondly at him, "Did you hear about what happened last night?"
"Dobby be hearing," the house-elf nodded his head, "Harry Potter and friends left Hoggywarts with Harry Potter sir's babies. Dobby not know that Harry Potter sir had little ones. Dobby be very happy that Harry Potter sir be blessed by Magic with such a gift."
"Thank you, Dobby," Harry smiled, "I was wondering, Dobby, if you could bring us our things that we left at Hogwarts and put it here in our rooms in the Manor."
"Dobby can be doing that," Dobby nodded so fast that Harry was afraid his head would pop right off, "Dobby be doing that right now." with another pop Dobby was gone, leaving Harry chuckling. Dobby was always so enthusiastic.
"Well that's taken care of, at least," Susan nodded, "Now we just have to see what we will do with our days."
"We can always continue our training," Neville suggested, looking up from a book, "Time is something that we won't lack."
"True," Ernie nodded, "Though we'll have to see how people react to this," he said, "Do you think our parents know yet?"
"They could," Harry sighed, "The Weasleys know, and I bet that they were informed by Dumbledore. For them to contact us only now means that Dumbledore has only told them recently. The only reason I can see for that to happen is that Dumbledore contacted the DMLE and they only recently finished the interrogations. After that they'll be contacting the families."
"Well, we can expect owls soon," Neville sighed.
Ares took a seat beside Harry, snuggling close to him.
"What is it?" Harry asked, slightly worried when he saw the small frown that his son had.
"I'm sorry," Ares mumbled, "We didn't mean to cause all this trouble."
"Love, there's nothing to be sorry for," Harry assured the little boy, pulling him closer, "This would happen sooner or later. It was always meant to happen. I'm a Necromancer, that's something that wouldn't change even if you and your brothers hadn't popped into the Great Hall."
"Really? You're not mad?"
"Really, I'm not mad and neither are your aunts and uncles."
"It's true, Ares," Ron said, taking a seat on the other side of the little boy, "I'm actually really glad to have met you and your brothers. Now what do you say about going to find a book with something to prank Fred and George with?"
Ares' eyes lit up and jumped from his seat, racing towards the bookshelves.
"Thanks, mate," Harry murmured, smiling at Ron.
"It's fine. I hate seeing the kids looking so down."
"Uncle Ron!"
Ron chuckled when he heard the excited shout and followed it to where Ares was pointing at a book on the top shelf.
Harry glanced around, taking everything in. Erebus was still whispering about something with Fred and George. Harry was sure that he didn't want to know what those three were plotting. Erus was paying close attention to what his father was telling him. From what Harry could hear Voldemort was explaining the theory behind a more complex shield charm. Salazar was still on Hermione's lap, looking fascinated by whatever story Hermione was reading to him. While Ares had dragged Ron to a corner and was pointing at various pages on the book, his eyes sparkling with mischief. This certainly wasn't what he had expected when he had agreed that the only way to keep his children safe was to follow Voldemort, but he wasn't complaining.
Just then a loud thump was heard and only a couple of feet from where George, Fred, and Erebus were sitting was small pile of people, with Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley looking down at it with fond exasperation.
"Get off," a familiar voice grumbled, "You're heavy!"
"Are you calling me fat, Moony?" came the indignant voice from his godfather and Harry couldn't help but smile.
"If he isn't then I am."
Another voice complained and Harry recognized it as Bill, the oldest Weasley brother.
"Uncle Bill!" Salazar's high pitch was heard again, and a child sized missile raced passed them and jumped onto the pile, making the unfortunate souls that were underneath groan.
"Grandma Molly!" another cry and Erebus was wrapped around Mrs. Weasley who was looking at the boy hugging her with tears in her eyes.
"Grandpa Arthur!" Ares was right behind his brothers in latching onto Mr. Weasley in a hug, who couldn't take his eyes from the children.
"Sal," Erus sounded slightly exasperated when he joined his brothers, "Let them get up," he pulled the giggling child from the pile, letting the three grown men get back onto their feet. Once they were all standing he let his brother go, "Now you can jump on him."
Not a second later Sal practically tackled Bill into a hug.
Erus laughed, before hugging Remus, visibly surprising the werewolf.
"Hi, uncle Moony."
Harry got up from his seat, noticing Voldemort doing the same, and both stopped side by side a couple of feet away from the group.
"Little Princes," Harry called, a smile on his lips, "Let them breath."
"Besides, it is only polite to introduce yourselves first, before you hug them to death." Voldemort added seriously, though Harry could clearly see his amusement.
Erus was the first to join them, quickly followed by Erebus, Ares, and Salazar. The children stood in front of them and Harry could see just how the image they presented shocked the five in front of them.
"Oh, Merlin," Mrs. Weasley whispered, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes roving over their features, "Just look at them."
Harry could understand her surprise. With Voldemort looking as he did, the similarities between Erus and he were quite staggering.
"I'm Erus Hadrian Potter-Riddle. I'm thirteen, the oldest child of Harry James Potter and Tom Marvolo Riddle." Erus sounded so proud and he fairly beamed at Voldemort when the man put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm Erebus Thomas Potter-Riddle. I'm ten." Erebus smiled at them, his eyes sparkling. Harry noticed that Sirius couldn't keep his eyes of him, no doubt caught in how much he looked like a young Harry.
"I'm Ares Orion Potter-Riddle. I'm six. I'm named after Uncle Paddy!" Sirius' gaze snapped towards Ares, his eyes wide.
"I'm Salazar Jameson Potter-Riddle. I'm four and I'm named after grandpa James. Daddy says we need another brother so that we have all the Marauders present. Papa says that to have another generation of Marauders would drive the Hogwarts professors insane. Do you think it will, Uncle Paddy?" Harry could hear some of his friends trying to hide their laughter and he threw them a quick glare. Merlin, Salazar was a little chatterbox, wasn't he?
Suddenly Sirius barked a laugh, grinning at the young boy.
"If you are as mischievous as we were I'm sure that your papa's right." Sirius replied, winking at them.
Salazar looked back at Harry for a fraction of a second then scurried up to Sirius' pulling on his sleeve till the man crouched in front of him.
"We have to behave," Sal told him in a whisper that everyone could hear, "If we don't daddy doesn't give us dessert. He's mean like that."
Bill snorted while Sirius let out another bark like laugh.
"The trick is not getting caught," Sirius whispered back, a spark in his eyes that Harry had rarely seen.
"Come now," Harry scowled playfully, "Don't go leading my children astray."
"See?" Salazar asked Sirius, "Daddy's really mean. Even papa's afraid of him."
"Is that so?" Sirius asked, and Harry could see the gleeful spark in his eyes. Salazar nodded solemnly.
"Uncle Ron says so. Uncle Ron says that papa is whipped," Sal told them, "Aunt Ginny said so too. Uncle Paddy, why would daddy whip papa?" Sal asked with all the innocence of a child, and that seemed to be all that Sirius could take. Sirius dissolved into laughter, quickly joined by some of Harry's friends, while everyone else was trying their best to control their laughter, knowing that they were laughing at the Dark Lord. Though, truthfully, none of them were being all that successful, including the Death Eaters. Harry had seen Rabastan turn towards the wall so that they wouldn't see him laugh, but his shaking shoulders gave him away.
Harry sighed and shook his head. Well, for a first meeting, things could have gone worse.