~ Reflections ~

Pairing: Voldemort/Harry (Slash pairing, male/male. You've been warned!)

Rating: M

Chapter Rating: PG or T (Or something along those lines)

Warnings: Nothing in this chapter (Future sexual content, some dubious consent, angst, SLASH)

Summary: Letters have been sent out by Voldemort requesting negotiations be made to put an end to the war. Dumbledore uses Harry as leverage to negotiate and the Boy-Who-Lived is signed off and bonded to the Dark Lord. Now being forced to live with Voldemort, Harry is wondering if there may be any light left in Voldemort that could be brought out so that being bonded to the Dark Lord will not have been in vain.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. I am making no money from this. If I owned the Harry Potter story, Voldemort not have died, he'd have won the Wizarding War and he would be romantically involved with a certain Boy-Who-Lived. What a mess I would make, hmm? XD

Author's Note:

This is my very first shot at writing a fanfic. *nervous as hell* I have over 350 pages written out by hand, so far, so I am currently in the process of typing everything up. English is not my native language, so please pardon the horrid amount of mistakes that you are likely to find in here. (This hasn't been Beta-ed yet.) Oh Lord, I am so nervous that this fic is a total disaster.

When I began to write this, I'd never intended on ever showing it to anyone, actually. I just had an idea in my mind and decided to start writing this fanfic for myself. It took a lot of convincing before I finally decided I would post this fic online for others to read. I know my writing doesn't hold a candle to most of the other LV/HP authors out there (or most of the HP writers in general!) but I am throwing this out here anyway and hoping that it will be of benefit, somehow. XP

This fic starts off during the OotP timeline, Harry is 15 when it begins (although he'll be 16 later in the fic). The events that take place in the Department of Mysteries have not occurred yet, so Sirius Black is still alive and well.

I would also like to thank my very good friend LadyofLilacs for Beta-ing nearly all of my chapters! She has an absolutely amazing LV/HP fanfic called "Freefall" that I highly recommend reading if you have not already (You won't regret it!).

Lines represent time passing between scenes.

*Sentences like this* represent a character thinking to themselves.

Chapter One: Negotiations

Albus Dumbledore wasn't sure what to think when an owl the color of coal approached him bearing a letter with a seal he could only assume belonged to Lord Voldemort.

He regarded the large bird for a moment before, against his better judgement, reaching for the letter it held.

Minerva McGonagall headed down the hall towards the Headmaster's office. Letters had arrived to several persons of importance requesting a meeting be held to negotiate terms that could put an end to the war.

She wondered to herself nervously what had caused the Dark Lord to propose something like this. The war had been taking its toll on the Light Side and their chances of victory were not good at all.

Albus was meeting with the Minister of Magic, Severus Snape, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus Lupin, Alastair Moody and Minerva McGonagall to discuss the letters that had been sent out by the Dark Lord.

"Ah, Minerva, you've arrived. Please, have a seat," Albus said as Minerva entered the Headmaster's office, "Now that everyone's here, we can begin."

"You can't seriously be considering this, Albus," Minerva said in disbelief as she took her seat.

"We both know our chances of actually winning this war, Minerva. As of this moment, we have an opportunity to negotiate terms with Lord Voldemort – this opportunity won't last," Albus' expression was grim.

"It could be some kind of trap, sir. Are you sure he won't try something during this meeting?" Kingsley looked nervous as he turned to face Dumbledore.

"Have you heard anything, Severus?" Albus asked, stroking his beard with one hand.

Severus Snape stood from his chair and began to pace as he spoke, "As far as I'm aware, the Dark Lord's offer is genuine. He wants to see an end to this war as much as we do."

"Of course he wants to see an end to the war!" Minerva interrupted, "So long as he comes out victorious and those who opposed him are rotting in dungeons or worse!"

"The Dark Lord would prefer to spill as little blood as possible concerning this war, Minerva. He does not intend to imprison or destroy anyone who isn't a Death Eater," Snape said, slightly annoyed.

"I fear defeat is already upon us," Albus said, standing from behind his desk, "Right now, it appears we have two options: We either refuse to meet with Lord Voldemort to negotiate for peace and then he will simply take what he wants by force, killing countless people along the way and destroying anything that stands in his path –or—we accept his proposal and meet with him to at least see what kinds of negotiations we can make, possibly saving countless lives in the process."

Their meeting lasted for several hours as they discussed what to negotiate and the possible outcomes of the meeting with Voldemort. In the end, those present in the Headmaster's office agreed that it was best to have this meeting with the Dark Lord and together came up with their response to the letter they'd been sent.

The overall mood of all those who knew of the upcoming meeting was tense as the days went by, bringing the day of the meeting closer and closer.

Albus sat at his desk arranging and rearranging the papers, quills and any other items within his reach. Cornelius Fudge had refused to be present for the meeting, trusting Albus to make the right decisions. He dared not stand in the presence of the Dark Lord and knew he wasn't alone in his fears. He'd spent a good deal of time discussing his feelings on what was and wasn't negotiable to him with Albus prior to the day of the meeting. All he could do now was hope.

In the end, the only individuals present in the room for the meeting with Albus were Severus Snape and Remus Lupin. A knock at the door brought the three wizards out of their anxious thoughts.

"Come in," Albus called out, straightening the papers on his desk one last time as the door opened and Lucius Malfoy stepped inside, holding the door open for the Dark Lord.

Lord Voldemort's robes flowed elegantly as he walked up to the Headmaster's desk. Albus looked up at the serpentine man before him. "Thanks for coming. You are free to take a seat if you wish," he said politely.

Voldemort sat in a chair directly in front of the desk, "So you will hear my terms?" Albus nodded.

The negotiations began as the Dark Lord listed off his terms. The meeting was tense but eventually agreements were made and documents that would put an end to the war were signed. Voldemort got control of the Ministry and in return, agreed to keep much the same as it had been, save for a few differences here and there; Punishments for certain crimes were to be more severe. He agreed to keep the Unforgivables illegal, with only his high level Death Eaters being granted special permission to use the curses in certain circumstances, and much of the laws in the Wizarding World the same. Hogwarts would remain under Albus Dumbledore, however certain significant decisions would have to go through Voldemort for approval.

The meeting was nearing its close when Voldemort decided to bring up one final matter, "I would like you to give me Harry Potter."

Albus wasn't entirely surprised that Voldemort would ask for the boy, considering the prophecy and all the trouble he'd gone through in the past to kill Harry Potter. The boy had been an obsession of his for the past 14 years, roughly. He also had a feeling this may have been why Voldemort had been surprisingly lenient with some of their negotiations.

"You don't expect us to just hand over Harry to you so you can kill him, that's absurd!" Remus Lupin said defiantly.

"I wouldn't expect you to allow me to kill the boy, however, it remains that Potter could be used as a weapon against me. I will not take that risk," Voldemort said carefully, "I ask not that you allow me to kill him but instead that you allow us to be bonded together, permanently preventing us from being able to kill each other."

The room was quiet for a moment as those present considered what Voldemort has proposed.

"That sounds reasonable," Albus said finally.

"Wait a minute!" Remus spoke up, "You can't just sign off Harry like this! He has a say in this. The decision is his."

Voldemort stood from his seat. "I expect a decision made by the end of the day. Contact me when you've come to it and we can make the needed arrangements," he said before sweeping out of the room.

"Remus, you know as well as I, we don't have much say here and neither does Harry…" Albus said once they were alone.

Remus brought Harry up to the Headmaster's office later that day to explain what had happened earlier. A document had been drawn up by the Dark Lord for Harry to sign if he agreed to allow himself to be bonded.

Albus explained to Harry the negotiations that had taken place earlier in the day and how Harry's bonding was the final agreement to be made. Harry listened carefully as the Headmaster told him that if he agreed to sign himself over to Voldemort, the war would finally be finished, the senseless deaths would stop, his friends would no longer be in danger and that much of the old laws would stay the same. People would no longer have to live in fear.

The cost to Harry was that he would have to willingly sign his life over to the Dark Lord. Harry would be forced to live with the monster that murdered his parents and agree not to fight him. This disturbed Harry greatly, but when he looked up at Dumbledore and saw the twinkle of hope in the old man's eyes, he knew he couldn't refuse. His happiness and comfort were completely insignificant when placed against that of the rest of the Wizarding World. Dumbledore deserved peace. His friends deserved peace and peace they would have, one way or another. He would do what he had to in order to give that to the people he cared about.