Disclaimer: Do not own, however much I would like to.
Warning: nothing for this chapter, just kind of dark… eventual Tom/Harry smexing
A/N: Recently I've gotten really obsessed with Tom/Harry… I'm slowly working my way through all the fics up here, but I thought I'd contribute a bit of my own. This is probably the longest thing I've written in quite awhile and I really enjoyed writing it, so enjoy!! :D
"And with two clockwise stirs and the blood of a newt it will be finished," a voice muttered, drifting through the fog. A gust of wind and the fog parted to show a figure in a long black cloak hunched over a huge steaming cauldron under which was a blazing purple fire. Tombstones surrounded the man and cauldron, obviously a cemetery.
Humming a menacing sounding song, the figure stirred twice with a long wooden rod then dropped it to the ground. From its flowing robes the figure withdrew a small vial of dark liquid. The vial was carefully tipped, making the contents spill into the cauldron with a hiss of steam. The liquid inside the cauldron began to bubble.
Suddenly, a bright white filled the cemetery making the man turn, hiding his face lest he be blinded. As the light faded, the figure looked back to the cauldron, gasped, and stepped back.
Inside the cauldron was no longer some noxious liquid, but a tall, wholly naked man. The man was thin with skin as pale as alabaster, glowing red eyes, and shoulder length hair black as a ravens wing. He was, in a word, beautiful.
For several seconds the two merely stared at each other, then with a strangled cry of happiness, the robed figure knelt, head pressed to the ground. "My lord, I am so… so happy!" the kneeling man said, his voice greatly muffled.
The other man blinked scarlet eyes then spoke, his voice hoarse and crackling as if from disuse, "Where are we? And how did I get here?"
Glancing up, the robed figure quickly averted his eyes in respect. "My lord, we are in the cemetery of Little Hangleton. I found a spell to bring you back, so you can now finish your work!" he exclaimed, clearly delighted.
This proclamation was met by another blink of the glowing scarlet eyes. As the silence stretched on, the figure on the ground shifted, obviously made nervous by the standing man's gaze. "Give me something to wear," the naked man suddenly demanded.
The cloaked figure scurried to comply, fumbling with a folded black robe a few feet away. Trembling, he handed the robe of then held out a wand. "And… and your wand, my lord," he said, flinching as pale fingers closed around the handle.
The black-haired man turned the wand in his hand, seeming to admire it, then moved his gaze back to the man huddled on the ground. "Why did you bring me back?" he asked, his voice betraying to emotion.
The other man looked up sharply. "What do you mean, my lord? So you could finish your noble work! These past three years-" He fell silent as the pale man held up a long-fingered hand.
"My noble work?" he muttered, clearly to himself. "What rubbish. It would have been better if I had stayed dead…" He looked down at the man on the ground who looked back at him in clear confusion. His gaze hardened. "Tell me everything that has happened since I have been… gone," he ordered, his voice dangerously low.
And so the cloaked man began speaking. He spoke of the Reconstruction, as it was now being called, of the wizarding world, of the many mudbloods being welcomed into their world, of the respectful treatment the muggles were now being shown, of how all the surviving Death Eaters who could be found had been sent to Azkaban, of how Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived and Savior of the wizarding race, had refused an appointment as Minister of Magic and how hunted rogue wizards as an auror.
This last bit of information seemed to surprise the pale man the most. Again, he held up a hand to stop the other man's speech, making him stutter to a halt. "Harry Potter an auror, eh? Then he will be at the Ministry?" A quick nod of the smaller man's head. "Then that is where I will go." Carefully, he stepped out of the cauldron onto the dusty ground.
The cloaked man looked up in surprise. "If I may ask, for what, my lord? Are we to destroy the Potter boy?" he asked, voice full of glee. His excitement turned to confusion as the dark-haired man shook his head.
"No… no, I go to make penitence."
The other man blanched. "My- my lord! Penitence? For what?" He stiffened as glowing red eyes glared down at him.
"Did I give you permission to question me?" the pale man roared, making the cloaked man shake in fright. A cold smile stole across his face to be quickly replaced with a look of utter contempt. "You may believe my former goals to have been… noble, but I see that perhaps they were not so great as I once thought. So, I go to make penitence if I can. Then maybe I can rest in peace."
A look of pain crossed his face and he closed his eyes, apparently lost in thought, missing the look of repulsion that flashed through the other man's eyes. A second later it was gone and the dark-haired man reopened his eyes. "Now I would like to go to the Ministry," he said in a commanding tone.
The cloaked man gave a forced looking smile. "Of course, my lord," he replied, his voice overly polite, "but it is late and you must be tired. Would it not be better to sleep a night at the manor-" he gestured at a large house not far in the distance "-and go to the Ministry in the morning?"
The dark-haired man looked down at the other, considering. Several minutes passed and the shorter man began to squirm uncomfortably under the scrutiny. "Perhaps you are correct," he finally intoned, making the cloaked man sigh in relief. "Take me to the manor." With a bow, the cloaked man led the way out of the graveyard.
Later that night, when all was dark and silent, a single owl appeared from the window of the manor, winging out to the horizon with a letter of rolled parchment grasped in its talons.
The Dark Lord has risen again.
Tomorrow he comes to the Ministry.
Beware!
A/N: What'd you think? Continue, yay or nay? Like I said, I really enjoyed writing it, but don't expect updates too frequently… I'm lazy like that XD But reviews really encourage me, so REVIEW!! :D