This is a work in progress that will hopefully be updated every other week. Except for the basic idea of Harry as someone else it has nothing to do with my earlier story A New Perspective.

Sanity Restored

Part 1

Harry screamed in pain as Voldemort invaded his mind. This time not from across the country, but from fifteen feet in front of him. All it had taken was eye-contact and the Dark Lord had surged right into Harry's mind. The pain in his scar was unbelievable, worse than anything he'd experienced, even the crucio the year pain became his whole world, and it was non ending and relentless, he despaired that he'd survive with his sanity intact, before something gave within him, his mind ripped apart from his body and the pain dulled just like everything around him. The world became disjointed and unreal.

The great atrium of the Ministry of Magic seemed to disappear from around him as he fought to stay conscious when his body started moving and talking beyond his control. The damn Dark Lord was using his body to fight Dumbledore, even tried to make the old man kill him.

"Fight him, Harry!" the Headmaster called out in between curses. "Throw him out!"

But Harry had no idea how, the invading mind seemed so overpowering, too strong for him to do anything but observe. Instead he began looking forward to seeing his parents, Sirius and Cedric in the afterlife. He wrapped himself up in the feeling of love and affection towards them and towards his friends. Suddenly, it wasn't him that was howling in pain. Something about Voldemort couldn't handle the emotions coursing through Harry. The invading mind made one last taunt towards Dumbledore and Harry, before he wrenched himself away from Harry, back into his own body.

Harry felt a strange pulling sensation, and then suddenly he was standing in a completely different hall, with a body pressed up against his left side. He looked down and found Bellatrix Lestrange held in his very long and thin arms. Disgusted he let go and pushed her away. "Get out of my ssssight!" he hissed threateningly, prepared to hex her when she turned on him.

But she didn't attack. "Yes, My Lord," she squeaked and scurried away, towards a door on the other end of the large room.

"What?" Harry stared down at very pale, long-fingered hands and the pale yew wand to the sweeping black robes that seemed to billow around him even though there was no wind. With trembling fingers he touched his face, dreading what he already knew he'd find. He had no nose or, he caressed his scalp, any hair at all.

"Bloody Hell! I'm bloody possssessssing Lord Voldemort!" he gasped in shock at the high-pitched voice that stuttered on the esses so that he sounded like a deranged snake. Something was wrong with his tongue. He stuck it out, and it extended almost four inches outside of his mouth. It was bloody forked!

He staggered over to the gaudy, gilded throne next to him and sank gracelessly down onto it. What was going on? This was nothing like what Voldemort had done to him at the Ministry, neither was it anything like what he'd experienced during the visions. This wasn't him feeling and doing what the Dark Lord was doing, this was him, Harry Potter using the Dark Lord's body as his own. There was no pain, no strange voice inside of him. He frowned, he felt comfortable, this felt like it was his body, not some strange loaner where things didn't work as it should.

"Lumosss!" he hissed, and the wand in his hand lit up obediently, though a lot stronger than it usually did. It lit up the whole room, not just the immediate area. The power that stirred within him at the act of magic felt incredible. It produced light, but it was seductively Dark in nature. Harry laughed at the feeling of it washing over him, coursing through him, bending to his will. He had Voldemort's power!

"What elsssse do I have?" he asked himself. Looking out the window, seeing dawn breaking, he closed his eyes and tried to remember what Voldemort had eaten for breakfast the previous morning. Immediately images of the Dark Lord at a large dining room table with Bellatrix on one side and Lucius and Narcissa on the other. All of them were having tea with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and rolls. He even remembered Narcissa making smalltalk about the weather with her sister.

It was a strange feeling, remembering how he'd sent the visions to 'the boy', but not what he'd been thinking or what he was feeling. The raw information of the deed was there, but no more than that, the mind of the man himself seemed to be missing both from the memory and the present. He had no hateful voice trying to regain his body within him now. Shouldn't there be?

Harry sighed, he sure had a lot to think about. There had to be something in Voldemort's past that explained things. He also needed to find out what had happened to his real body. Was that where the Dark Lord was now? Had they switched bodies?

Standing up from the cushioned, but still uncomfortable throne, he decided to retreat to Voldemort's private suite. He frowned again when he realized he was at Malfoy Manor. Voldemort might have liked it there, but Harry felt rather exposed. He had no idea if he could play Dark Lord well enough to fool them just yet. A smaller suite of rooms might also be easier to ward for privacy.

He took a deep breath to bring fourth his courage. He was the Dark Lord, he had to act the part or he'd be in even more trouble. Be the Dark Lord, be the Dark Lord, he repeated within his mind as he pulled the double doors open with a violent yank. The doors crashed against the wall as he strode through. He almost stumbled over a huddling piece of trash that had been leaning against the door outside. "Wormtail!" he hissed in disgust when the bundle scuttled away.

"Master!"

"I believe I'll sssskip breakfassst food thisss morning, bring me lunch in my quarterssss inssstead," he ordered, wondering briefly where the idea of food had come from. He didn't have to pretend to make the order menacing. He truly hated the bloody rat and couldn't help enjoying the idea of ordering him around.

"Yes, Master!"

Harry turned away, dismissing the rat as he strode through the opulent corridors and halls towards the stairs up to his quarters. He quite enjoyed his new body, he decided. He felt strong and in control even with the long and thin limbs. The constant pain from the scar as well as the chronic sense of exhaustion was thankfully gone with his old body. It was with a sense of elation that he realized he was not hungry, nor tired at all for the first time in a long long while.

It was no trouble at all bringing up the knowledge of where his quarters were located, nor how his chambers were warded, and then slipping through them with the ease of habit. He did after all remember quite well and quite easily how he'd done it the previous morning when he'd left. For a short moment, as he entered, he couldn't differentiate between something he'd done and something Voldemort had done. He shuddered at how easily he could actually slip into Voldemort's life. He stopped, right in the middle of the parlour, chills running down his back. "To the ressst of the world I AM Voldemort!" Nobody but him knew what had happened, and it would be damn hard telling anyone the truth. Who would believe You-Know-Who?

Most people didn't know Harry Potter well enough to know if he was telling the truth, not even now when he'd been proven right about Voldemort. His friends and the Order knew Voldemort had been in Harry's head, they'd suspect he'd found out more than they had realized if he tried telling them stuff only Harry should know. Would they believe Veritaserum even worked on him? Worst of all, he had no idea what Dumbledore would do if he got his hands on a Voldemort trying to defect to the light. He'd probably see it as a chance to kill him. Harry didn't want to die, not even now. He'd have to be very very careful now.

The only person he could even get close enough to talk to without being hexed on sight was Snape, he realized. He didn't like the man, but he was fairly sure the man was loyal to the light. If he could get him to drink some Veritaserum, he'd be set to find out for sure if he could trust the man with his secret.

At that moment, he was woken from his reverie by a hesitant knock on the door. Nobody was allowed through the wards, not even elves. He opened the door. Wormtail was outside with a large tray. Harry silently waved him inside and over to a small dining table by the bay window. "Put it down, then give me your arm," he ordered.

The rat eagerly bowed and held up his bared arm as he sank to his knees in front of Harry. Harry put his wand-tip to the mark and pressed hard, channelling his new magic into it. A pulse of magic went out from Wormtails' mark, connecting him to what felt like an extension of himself somehow. "Ssseverusss, come to meee," he hissed in Parseltongue and knew the need to come would be instilled in the man not only by the pain this calling caused.

Harry smirked as he disconnected Severus and instead sought out the ten of his followers that were now occupying Azkaban. "You will be punisshed..." he hissed, and sent continuous raw pain though the connection. They had hurt his friends, they had failed their mission, they were his to punish! He cackled in malicious glee as even Wormtail was squirming in pain in front of him.

All too soon, he dropped the man on the floor. "Tell Ssseverusss to join me here when he arrivesss, Wormtail," he ordered with a kick to the man's guts.

"Yes Master."

Harry's gleeful chuckling died down as he sat down by the table to have his early lunch. Thinking about what he'd just done killed his appetite. The men he had just tortured may have been death eaters, but they were still human, and he was now their Master and Lord. It really shouldn't feel so good to exercise that power over them, but it did.

"I've barely been here an hour, and I'm already sssettling in," he shook his head and decisively removed the cloche over the serving plate. Under it was a very rare steak, almost to the point of raw along with roasted potatoes and carrots, it was accompanied by a red wine sauce and some freshly baked rolls. Along with this there were a nice Bordeaux and some treacle tart and tea for afters. "At leassst he eatsss well..." Harry mumbled as he dug into his meal.

He was about to cut himself a piece of tart, smirking at the thought that it was Voldemort's favourite as well, when there was another deferential knock on the door. He barely gave a thought as to the ease the action came to him; banished the remnants of the first course and conjured another plate and cup for Severus before he waved at the door to open it.

"Come on in, Ssseverusss!" he called without even bothering getting up from his position by the table.

Harry noticed a glimpse of curiosity in the eyes of his masked Potions Master as he confidently, but carefully entered the parlour. Harry knew it was the first time he had been invited into the inner sanctum, so to speak. Usually it was only Wormtail, Lucius and Bellatrix who had that honor. All other audiences were held in the throne room downstairs.

Even though Harry had known Snape was a Death Eater for a while now, he was hit by the reality of it when the so proud and stoic man fell to the floor in a kneeling bow, his robes fanned out around him.

Harry leaned back in his chair, studying the kneeling man in front of him. He hadn't actually planned how to go about telling the man what had happened. So, instead of plunging ahead with the big question, he decided to try and put the man at ease somewhat first.

"Ssseverusss, come, have ssssome tea and tart with me," he invited, trying not to growl at his inability to speak normally with his forked tongue. Damn snake-genes. He waved his wand, and Severus' mask and uniform was banished, making the man look only slightly less intimidating in the teaching-robes he had on under it.

The man only hesitated briefly before he stood and claimed the free chair on the other side of the round table Harry was occupying. Harry cut two pieces himself, and served them as he indicated for Severus to pour the tea.

None of them spoke as they enjoyed their cakes and tea. To Harry it felt slightly surreal to amicably share something so normal with his potions Professor, and without a single sneer or glare too. But then again this time it was he, as in Harry Potter, who had the upper hand.

Once they were done, Severus seemed to gather is courage. "What can I do for you Master?" he asked.

Harry leaned back in his seat again, studying Severus for a moment before he spoke. "Ssseveruss, my sslippery Sspy. For once in your life, I need your complete and utter truth about your loyaltiesss. For what I'm about to tell you, I need to know if you are truly on my ssside."

"Of course I am, Master!" Severus replied without any hesitation. If Harry hadn't known better he wouldn't have thought it a lie, it rang very true. As it was now, he did have reason to believe Severus wasn't loyal to the Dark Lord.

"Would you be willing to ansssswer that question under veritasssserum to confirm?" Harry asked with a piercing glare.

Severus briefly seemed to pale even further before he swallowed what must be nearing panic. Voldemort very rarely relied on Veritaserum for truth, instead he usually used Legilimency on his followers and hostages. But Harry knew he couldn't trust Severus to not to hide the truth that way.

"Yes, of course, Master."

Harry held out his wand. "Accio Veritaserum!" he ordered. Moments later a small vial came hurtling through the air from the discarded pile of clothes that was Severus' uniform. Harry grinned toothily. "How good of you to bring your own!" He uncorked it and leaned over towards Severus. "Tongue out," he hissed.

Three drops later, and Severus Snape's sharp eyes became unfocused and his features slacked.

"Tell me, Ssseverusss, who are you loyal to?"

"To Myself."

"Hmm, yea, alwaysss the perfect double-agent, aren't you?"

"Yesss," came the impassionate reply

"Who's side are you ulitmately on? Mine or Dumbledore's?"

"Neither."

This was already getting ridiculous, the man sure knew how to answer and yet not tell anything. "Indeed, you are sslippery. Now, I'm going to need you to elaborate more. Besidesss yourself who are you loyal to."

Sweat was pouring down Severus' face, as he obviously tried to fight the drug.

"Anssswer me!"

"Harry Potter," Severus blurted out. "I swore an unbreakable vow to his mother to always protect him to the best of my ability. I do not like the boy, and I can not stand by his side publicly, but he has my support and protection."

"Then, why are you treating him like sssshit, even in private? I would have thought you'd want him to know you're alliesss?"

"I wanted to take him under my wing, let him know he had someone who cared, but Dumbledore wanted me to play the bad guy. He ordered me, with compulsions I can't break, to loathe, hate and humiliate him."

The man was shaking now, the reality of telling his Lord his greatest secret finally breaking through the Veritaserum. "Please, My Lord!" the panic was near and Harry wondered if he was about to be hexed in a wild attempt at running.

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Calm down Ssseverussss. I'm not about to hexsss you."

An astonished "What?" came through the panic.

Harry chuckled, amused. "Tell me, Ssssseverusss, did you have time to find out what happened in the Atrium of the Minissstry of Magic earlier today?"

"Well, Dumbledore mentioned you duelled him, briefly possessed the boy and then you ran off before you could be surrounded when the aurors arrived."

"And after I left, anything interesssting happen?"

Severus winced as he continued, apparently there were still serum in his body. "Potter collapsed and fell into a magical coma, they think. They haven't been able to wake him. He's in the Hogwarts infirmary now. We were starting to investigate what you may have hit him with, as you left."

Harry tapped a long pale finger across his non-lips, relieved that Voldemort wasn't out and about as Harry Potter. "There'ssss a very eassssy exsssplanation for why Potter issss in a coma..." he smirked at the surprised look on Severus' face.

"What did you do, my Lord?"

"I don't know." Severus eyebrow went up at that. "I don't know, exsssactly. You ssssee Ssseverusss, I am Harry Potter!"

"WHAT!"

Harry shrugged. "When Voldemort ended the possssesssson I was pulled right along, and a moment later I wassss in control of thissss body, and the Dark Lord nowhere to find. I have no idea what the bloody hell happened to the ssssnaketongued bassstard." he growled as he held out his forked tongue. "Bloody ssssnake-genesssss!" he cursed again looking at it before he snapped it back in.

Severus gaped at his outburst, then started laughing. It was the first true and honest laugh Harry had ever heard from his dreaded Potions Master.

"Professsssor! it'sss not funny!" he sulked something that sounded rather funny in the Dark Lord's menacing hissing way of speaking that Harry had been forced to assume.

But Snape laughed even harder at that. "Only you, Potter. Only you," he managed.

Harry crossed his arms and decided to wait it out now that he had accomplished his goal to tell his Potions Master the truth and make him believe him. He dove into his Dark Lord well of knowledge to find how to break a powerful compulsion on someone. He couldn't very well collaborate with the man if he was forced to hate him.

It didn't take much to find a universal finite that should take care of the Headmaster's compulsion. He collected his power, aimed his wand and intoned. "Finite Incantatem Omnia Maxima." The counter-spell swirled around Snape and within moments he was blinking as if hit with a cold bucket of water. this time it was Harry's turn to laugh.

"Ssssorry, Ssseverusss, I do believe you lost the greasy with the git." Because in front of him sat a Severus who had beautiful black locks, a rather smaller but still hooked nose, white straight teeth and a healthily rosy skin. The very anti-thesis of who he'd been.

"What are you talking about?"

"The glamour that made you ugly?"

"Huh?"

Harry gestured towards a mirror on the other side of the room. "Have a look yourself. If it wasn't you who did the glamour, they sure did a number on you."

"Bloody Hell!"

"I'd guess Dumbledore, or perhaps Potter Sr or Sirius did that very early on. You already had the ugly look when I made you a Death Eater..." Harry gulped when Snape turned sharply to stare at him.

"Ooopssss, when Voldemort made you a Death Eater. I have all hisss memoriesss. I can accessss them asss eassily ass my own. We need to find out what happened, why, and how to reverssse it. I am already starting to think of his actsss like mine, who knows how I'll change when I'm forced to act like him for a long period of time."

"What a mess," Severus sighed. "We need a plan."

"Indeed, we do." Harry mused as he watched the still confused Severus. Somehow his brain worked a lot better in Tom's body. It was as if he'd moved into a whole new division of intelligence. Somehow an idea just popped into his head no effort at all. "Right, thisss iss what we'll do: You will tell Dumbledore and the order that Voldemort was wounded by the posssesson and thusss want you by hisss sside asss his new sssecond in command now that Luciuss isss gone to Azsskaban. Sssince you never liked teaching anyway, you might asss well quit your job and kidnap Harry Potter on your way out of the cassstle. Asss a Traitor to the Order, you'll be ssstaying with me, helping find a sssolution to this posssesssion problem and making sssure Voldemort don't ssurvive it. I'll of courssse need you to create sssome potionssss. I do NOT want to look like thisss, or sssssound like thissss, regress me to Tom Riddle or give me a permanent Polyjuice Potion...what do you think?"

"I think you've also inherited the Dark Lord's ability to come up with a plan on the spot. Though his are usually a lot more complicated."

"Alliesss?" Harry held out his bony hand and Severus didn't hesitate. They shook hands and when their eyes met there were no walls to hide the honesty in the pledge as allies.

"Maybe now we can even be friends," Severus replied with a grin.

"Indeed, we can," Harry agreed, and he could feel the new warmth between them. Though meeting Snape's eyes from the vantage point of being taller than his professor felt a bit strange still.

The formalities taken care of, Severus once again turned to the mirror, running his hand through his new hair, looking down his tiny nose, grinning with teeth white enough to threaten Lockhart's award-winning smile. "I can't bloody believe I've walked through my whole life not noticing a bloody glamour on me!"

"Ssincsse I finitoed everything in one blassst, we won't know exssactly who did it. But you have to admit there'sss a definite chancsse our dear Headmassster sset you up. He wanted a bad guy under his thumb, who'ss to say he didn't do it already in your youth, to groom you into Death Eater-hood ssso to ssspeak?"

Severus shook his head with his shoulders uncharacteristically slumped. "I truly believed he was on my side, even though I could never allow myself to completely trust him."

Somehting about being Voldemort boosted Harry's confidence. He wrapped an arm around Snape's shoulders and studied his own reflection next to his new ally's. "Dumbledore issn't either asss good or asss light asss he wantsss the world to believe. I know now that it iss becausse of Dumbledore's actionsss in Tom Riddle'ss passst that he iss Voldemort today. Had the Headmasster acted differently back then, the world would be very different today. I'm afraid that, with what I know now, I can't be a part of the Order or return to the ssschool under hisss control."

"The prophecy Voldemort tried to get from the Department of Mysteries today stated you have the power to defeat Voldemort. We don't know the rest of it, but you sure are in a position to take him out now, if you haven't already defeated him now. You'll have to dig through his memories to find out how he evaded death last time, to prevent it from happening again. Dumbledore has told me, several times in fact, that you do have a key part and he expects you to sacrifice yourself for the greater good. I think he intends for you to die taking Voldemort out."

Harry nodded, not breaking eye-contact in the mirror. "Wouldn't ssurprisse me. He ssure hass groomed me to be sself sssacrificssing, humble and without confidencsse in my own worth."

"So, we keep this quiet. Just the two of us to begin with. Maybe later, depending on how we do with our mission, we might need the inventive geniuses of the Weasley Twins or the research genius of Miss Granger. We also need to find the Dark Lord a new hideout. With Lucius in Azkaban you aren't secure here."

Once again knowledge bubbled up from Harry's new mind. "How about you, Severus, didn't you have an old estate somewhere? Prince Castle, or something?"

Snape frowned. "My mother was disinherited from the Prince family. My grandfather left the bloody place to the Dark Lord"

More information was coming to Harry's aid. "Yes, that's right. Riddle inherited the whole shebang. How about I give it back to you, for long and loyal service?"

Snape made big eyes. "Really?"

"Why not? We have all the assetss of the Dark Sside at our disposssal, why not usse it as we ssee fit. Prince is your legacy, you sshould have it back," Harry said with a final nod.

"Thank you, My Lord," Snape was bowing before he even realized what he was doing.

Harry chuckled. "Your Lord, am I? I thought you believed me when I sssaid I wass Harry Potter?"

Snape blushed. "Opps. I do, I do...old habits, it seems."

"Perhaps it'sss a habit you better keep until we've eliminated the ressst of the Death Eatersss."

Snape grinned predatorily "How about I whip up a nice poison, eh?"

"Ooo, good idea! A sslow acting one. We could put it on the hem of my robess, call a mass meeting and then the next morning they will all be dead in their bedsss."

"What? No torture? No death in agony at your feet? You're losing your touch, my Lord!"

Harry laughed. "Don't you mean: Merlin, The-Boy-Who-Lived iss going Dark! He's planning the murder of dozensssss!"

"Nah, I don't care about that, we're at war. Besides, there's nothing like a little Dark Arts to spruce up life." He held out his hand again. "Welcome to the Dark Mr. Potter!"

Harry shook his hand. "Thank you Professor Ssnape, glad to be here." The grin that came upon him was devilish in its mischievousness. And he even believed it.

There was a deep gong sounding through the house, interrupting their banter. "Ah, it sseems it'ss already lunchtime in the Malfoy housse," Harry noted. "Will you ssstay?" he asked Severus.

"Sure, would be nice with something different from the usual school-grub. Besides, I think Cissa might need some consoling, what with Lucius in prison and all."

"Yes, such a pity. I'm gonna have to play the part though, so stay on your toes, Severusss."

"Certainly, I do have a lifetime of experience in grovelling. Should be interesting to see if I can spot any difference between you and the real one."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "You don't think I can do it?"

"As long as it's just socialising I believe you could, you already have his mannerisms and way of speaking. I'm less confident if you end up in a situation where you'll need to crucio someone. Dumbledore said you are incapable of the unforgiveables."

Harry chuckled. "Showss what he knowsss. I crucioed Bellatrix at the minissstry. It was weak, barely a tickle for Bella, but I did casst it."

"Could you do it to me? It might be expected, you always do."

Harry tilted his head in thought, bringing up a few of the situations where his Potions Professor had made him boil in anger and hate. "Crucio," he hissed, pointing his wand at Severus.

Snape immediately fell to the floor with a raw pained scream. Harry cut the spell off and cushioned the floor even before the man had hit it. Snape looked up at him, panting. "I'm sorry for doubting you, My Lord,"

Harry's sneer was completely real as he stared down at the now kneeling man in front of him. "You've been nasssty to me for five yearsss, Sssnape. We're alliess now, but do you really think it'ss difficult for me to bring out the hate needed for a crucio?"

"Apparently not," Snape said with a sigh as he regained his footing unsteadily. "I am sorry about how I acted. I wish I had been strong enough to go against Dumbledore."

"Don't worry, Ssseveruss. I forgive you. Now, pull yourssself together, it'sss lunchtime."

Snape picked up and donned his discarded uniform, except for the mask. Harry was already in his most intimidating Dark Lord robes. As he was about to dispel his privacy-wards he stilled, closed his eyes and took a deep breath to center himself and brought the memories and mindset of the Dark Lord to the forefront of his mind. Unconsciously he stood and walked a little straighter and taller, the utter confidence that came with being the Master, the Dark Lord, transformed him. Fear had no place in his mind.

At the table downstairs, he found Bellatrix, Wormtail and a red-eyed Narcissa waiting for him to arrive. He said nothing as he indicated for Severus to take the seat on his right side. Bellatrix made big eyes, but kept the silence. They all knew better than to speak out of turn after a failed raid.

Only Harry and Severus had the nerves to actually eat much. The two ladies just picked at the food on their plates. Narcissa seemed on the verge of crying every time she laid eyes on Severus sitting in Lucius place.

When the meal was over Harry finally spoke up. "Ssseverussss will replace Luciusss asss my sssssecond in command. You will obey him asss you would me, from now on." He turned towards his hostess. "When your sson returnsss from Hogwartss, he will be Marked and will then take Sseveruss's place as my Sspy in Hogwarts come fall." He turned towards Bellatrix. "Ass punishment for your failure today, conssider yourssself on probation. With mossst of my inner circle in the handss of the Aurorss, this place iss no longer ssafe as headquarterss. When I move out tomorrow, you will remain here to teach the boy our waysss until the Marking Ceremony."

"But, Master..." she fell to her knees in front of him, her face a mask of horror and despair. She reached out to him like some professional beggar.

Harry snorted. "You know the punishment for a failed misssion, my dear Bella," he hissed.

"Please, Master. Whip me, Crucio me, kick me, but please don't leave me!" she whailed.

"Like you wouldn't love a good flogging," he sneered. "No, you'll take your punishment like a good little minion, Bella. Teach your nephew, and then we will sssee."

"Noooo..." she whailed.

"You forget your place," he sneered back. "Crucio!" For a mad-woman, she was rather predictable. Harry enjoyed every moment of her screams, the image of Sirius falling through the Veil of Death flashing before him as he made her writhe on the floor, even as she came.

He Ignored the shivering woman on the floor and turned towards the last follower at the table he needed to address. "Wormtail, when I leave tomorrow with Ssseveruss at my ssside, I will no longer need your sssservices. I care not what you do until I call you next."

"Yes, Master," came the squeaky voice of total obedience. The rat may be dangerous and unpredictable when it came to others, but he was utterly in awe of his Lord. He'd even brought him back from the dead. Not that Voldemort ever seemed to trust him because of it. Harry couldn't find any confidences or sharing of plans with the rat in his memories. The Rat would rat him out if it came down to saving his own pathetic little life. Voldemort had kept him close because nobody else would do all those demeaning things Wormtail would happily go about. Harry had no such needs.

As was the Dark Lord's habit, he gave no further explanations or justifications to his actions. They were after all his slaves, they were there to further his agenda, nothing more. "Ssseverusss, you have your orderssss," he nodded as he turned on his heel and stalked off, back to his chambers. Just being in the same room as Bellatrix and Wormtail made him itch with growing anger. He honestly had no idea what would happen if he was forced to spend time with his Godfather's murderer and his parents' betrayer.

To be continued...