Chapter 2. The choice

Things started to calm down only in Headmaster office.

There was a lot of shouting, people panicking, Victor under Imperious, John bleeding, Harry and Fleur trashing after Cruciatus, Pseudo-Moody disappears before twins even returned, true Moody found in a trunk half-dead, John trying to explain that "He's back!", but no one believes him, Fudge stating that everything is lies.

And now Professor Dumbledore was asking John to show his memory from the graveyard so he and Professor Snape could watch it in the Pensieve. After Professors immerse themselves into the memory, twins finally were able to sit in silence.

"Why Snape?" asks John after some time with clear distaste, curiously looking at two adults with heads down into the basin.

"I suspect he was a Death Eater in the first war and Dumbledore think he may notice something important about Voldemort," Harry explained.

"Urgh, always knew he's a filthy Death Eater. Anyway, Voldemort clearly is an insane monster, what else there to say?"

"I dunno. Is he as insane as before or is it a new kind of insanity, maybe?" older brother joked weakly.

John hummed and they were silent again.

To be honest, Harry wasn't sure that Voldemort was insane at all. Yes, he behaved strangely, but... wasn't it understandable for someone who lived the last thirteen years as a wraith and finally regained his body back? Putting aside all insane laughing, Voldemort's actions were actually quite well planned. The way he set John up, provoked him into duelling, hid all suspicions others may hold for Harry's involvement. He even obliviated Wormtail! And the most fascinating thing was that only Harry saw his sane actions. From John's point of view, Voldemort was indeed quite insane.

Harry glanced at Professors. Of course, they asked for John's memory. Harry was sure no one even thought about asking his memory instead. And right now it suited him just fine.

No, he wasn't jealous of his brother's fame. Actually, it worked another way around, as it was John who often wanted to just hide in the shadows and be the ordinary boy like his brother. Well, Harry was as ordinary as one can be when his brother is the Boy Who Lived. But still, no one paid him much attention before this year.

And this year would be the same if only Sirius didn't sign Harry's permission to participate in the Tournament along with John's, and John didn't insist in throwing his name into the Goblet "just for the company". No one expected that he would actually be chosen. Among all Hogwarts students Goblet choose him, Harry Potter, as Hogwarts champion. Not his brother. Not some seventh-year. No, he chose him, unimportant Potter twin who was just in his fourth year.

Harry was secretly glad that Goblet also chose John as forth champion due to Pseudo-Moody's manipulations because thanks to that public focused on him, not on Harry. Well, he did sympathize with John that everyone thought him be an attention whore, but Harry just couldn't help himself. Even when he beat Victor and Fleur on the first two tasks, everyone still paid him little attention in favour of his famous brother. And, again, it suited him just fine, thank you.

John and Harry weren't enemies, weren't rivals. They were... brothers, who always helped each other. How it may be any other way when they were raised at Dursleys where you can survive only if you stick together? (Okay, Harry may be exaggerating a little, but he really didn't like Dursleys and was immensely glad they weren't returning to them this summer or, well, never.)

They were the only family they ever had until Sirius showed up. They stuck together at Dursleys. Different Houses at Hogwarts didn't manage to separate them that much. Even with Triwizard Tournament, where Harry was the rightful champion and John was the "attention seeker", they still helped each other to prepare for the tasks. Hell, they even decided to grab the cup together, to win this stupid Tournament together, as brothers.

Of course, they had their fights. They weren't thick as thieves like Fred and George. They weren't even identical twins for that matter. They have different looks, different houses, different personalities. But never anything serious got between them.

They were The Boy Who Lived and His Brother. The Potter Twins. And if one of them was The Saviour of the Wizarding World, well, it was just natural that the other should help him with this.

And that's why Harry was staring now into space and trying to understand what he should do.

Because Voldemort gave him a choice.

Lord fucking Voldemort, the leader of the Dark side, actually gave him an opportunity to choose on which side to fight.

Harry never thought he would ever have this choice. Everyone just assumed that he would be with his brother, for the 'Light'. No one ever questioned this, and it didn't help the matters that Harry always defended his brother. Hell, he himself assumed this, because he could never imagine that the 'Dark' side may actually... invite him.

But here he was now. Probably insane Dark Lord gave him an offer.

It's funny, that back at the graveyard it didn't look like an actual choice. Because if he refused he would be just killed. But in fact, Voldemort let him leave, without a mark, without an oath, without anything that could ensure where he stands.

"I'll contact you about your allegiance later." Voldemort gave him time to think.

It was shocking, really. He had a choice. He doesn't have to stuck with the 'Light', with Dumbledore. He could think for himself.

Meanwhile, Professors finally emerged from the Pensieve. Judging by the fact that they yet have to ask for Harry's memory, they didn't notice anything amiss with what they saw. As Harry thought, it was a perfect set up, to wake John up with Cruciatus.

They were saying something, commenting that Voldemort just tried to manipulate John with his merciless words, and praising Harry for quick thinking and courage when he stood in the way of the Cruciatus. He was sick at this. Harry didn't think about defending his brother at the moment. He thought that he couldn't return unscratched. And it was... wrong.

He could suggest his memory by himself if they don't ask. He could tell them, that John was in fact stupefied and Harry had a short conversation with Voldemort. He could and should do it.

But he didn't. He needed to think.

As the days went on, Harry was still thinking. He currently sat at the dinner chatting with his friends. After several days everyone already knew his opinion on what happened and rarely asked more questions. Yes, Voldemort was resurrected. No, no one actually called him Voldemort, only 'My Lord', so technically it may be someone else. Yes, he has red eyes and a snake-like face. No, he didn't speak parseltongue in their presence because there were no snakes. Yes, Cruciatus is very, very painful. No, he has no idea why John wasn't kidnapped by Pseudo-Moody earlier if he was there all the year and all they needed was his blood for the ritual.

The last was a lie but it wasn't like he could explain how he knows such details about dark rituals and preparation of sacrifices.

In the end, the student body wasn't convinced that Voldemort indeed returned. The Dark Lord was assumed dead for too long and no one knew how he could survive and get resurrected. John already had a reputation of "attention whore", and while Harry was in a better position, his Ravenclaws friends couldn't help but point out that technically it may not be Voldemort. It may be an impostor who wanted to use the name of the most feared Dark Lord. Or it may be even a very strange prank that went wrong. And really, why John wasn't kidnapped earlier if this all was true?

The last argument was actually the strongest, right after "but You-Know-Who died years ago!". Harry was sure, that there were many other students who had an answer for this, especially among Ravenclaws and Slytherins, but no one wanted to acknowledge that they knew the theory behind forbidden dark rituals.

Talking about Slytherins. Harry watched them closely because many of them were children of Death Eaters. Surely Dark Mark should behave after the Dark Lord returned and parents may have warned them. And Harry could tell that Slytherins were tensed. That may, of course, be explained by mere rumours of Dark Lord returning, so no one paid much attention to this, but still.

Harry sympathized with them. Death Eater's children also didn't have any real choice in this war. He would like to discuss it with some of them, but he can't be openly seen with Slytherins. And he still waited for the opportunity to catch Draco alone. It's not like they were friends while there was an open rivalry between John and Draco, but they were... acquaintances. Among all Slytherins Draco was the only one with whom he could possibly discuss this.

It was a shame he can't be openly associated with Slytherins. But their reputation as dark wizards without exceptions was too strong. He, Brother Of The Boy Who Lived, couldn't allow this. That was a reason why he asked the Hat not to put him in Slytherin even while it thought it was the best House for him. But there was no way he could live the life of an ordinary boy while in the House Of Dark Wizards.

Harry still thought that decision not to be sorted into Slytherin was, in fact, the most Slytherin move he ever did in his life. He escaped so many suspicions thanks to this. That was funny because statistically speaking there were more dark wizards and witches among Ravenclaws then among Slytherins. But no one seems to realize that. Well, Ravenclaws knew that of course, but even they preferred not to speak about it. Although they liked to joke that Ravenclaws may be dark, but Slytherins were just evil.

Remembering about the Dark, Harry returned to his musing about the choice Voldemort gave him. The biggest problem was that all his friends and his family (namely John, Sirius and Remus) were against Voldemort. Many of them actually hated him because he and his followers killed their loved ones. And if Harry joins Voldemort, he would be hated too by all of them. He wasn't sure he would be ever able to explain himself even to his closest friends. He may lose everyone, become a traitor in everyone's eyes and it was a huge risk to take.

But Harry himself didn't hate Voldemort. Yes, the Dark Lord killed his parents. But Harry never actually knew them as they died when he was too young and, well, it was war. People die in war, and when you choose to fight you should understand that you may lose your life. Lily and James Potter weren't casualties, they were fighters for the Dumbledore's side, and they must have really annoyed Voldemort if he decided to kill them himself. Again, it was their choice not to quit the war when they had children, and they should have understood that they risked their lives too.

So, Harry couldn't blame Voldemort for this. He fought for the cause and did what he thought was right. Harry tried to explain this to John, but he didn't get it. It was actually one of a few serious fights they had. John claimed that Voldemort was a murderous monster, but Harry couldn't help but point out that it may be because Voldemort lost and winning side is able to say anything about him now.

And even if Voldemort actually looked like a monster, as it turned out, and was at least somewhat insane, Harry still didn't hate him. Not in the last is because he knew more about his history than John knew.

Still, it was a problem. If he joins Voldemort, he essentially betrays everyone he knows.

But it may be avoided. If no one will know that he joined Voldemort, no one will hate him. After all, he didn't study Occlumency since he was twelve for nothing.

Yes, no one believed that Voldemort returned. The Daily Prophet was all about it, how Dumbledore and John were trying to fool Wizarding Britain and drag them all in a new war. John even gained a new title of the Boy Who Lied. It didn't help that Voldemort was quiet and yet had to do something.

Not in the first time Harry was glad that he wasn't in John's shoes. It really sucked to be the Boy Who Lived. He should thank Voldemort that he didn't try to kill Harry instead that fateful Halloween night.

But this whole situation reminded him why he didn't like the current government. They were the bunch of incompetent fools who couldn't keep everything in order, who sent the innocent into Azkaban without a trial and now they were afraid to accept frightening truth or at least do something to prepare in case it all wasn't lies and there was indeed a Dark Lord regaining his powers. Instead, they prefer to gossip.

And whose fault it was? The last war ended more than a decade ago with so-called 'Light' side winning and this 'Light' side didn't manage to make a Wizarding Britain a better place. Blood purism was still there. Muggleborns were still widely bullied. And no one took muggles seriously.

Harry didn't like it, but he also didn't think that Wizarding Britain was able to change without someone pushing it. Because look at this, they had thirteen years of peace and it didn't change anything.

In other words, Harry believed in the revolution. That the war may actually be needed, or they die in stagnation.

And he didn't believe in so-called 'Light'. They already won once and didn't achieve anything. They were afraid to change things. Of course, it's not like 'Dark' side was that much better. For example, they were for blood purism and that was just bullshit.

But 'Light' already proved their incompetence. Maybe it's time to check the other side? After all, Voldemort wasn't pureblood, Harry knew this, surely he didn't believe in blood purism himself?

Harry wanted to live in a better world and was actually ready to make it so. There was, after all, a reason why the Hat wanted to put him in Slytherin.

::What are you thinking about, little heir?::

Sudden question bring Harry back from his thoughts. A book about Blood magic lied long forgotten on his laps. He was trying to find what exactly his mother did, but it was fruitless so far.

He was currently sitting on a stone floor leaned on Sasha's side. He patted her scales, contemplating how exactly to answer her.

::I met Tom recently,:: he began. ::He gave me a lot of food for thoughts.::

::Oh? How is he? It was a couple of years I saw him last time.::

::No, it was another Tom,:: Harry paused, trying to remember how Sasha called Voldemort from the Diary. ::Not just a piece of him from the time he was young. It was the real Tom. I told you earlier, he lost his body a decade ago and now gained it back. I met him right after that.::

::Did you gave him my regards?::

Harry was taken aback for several seconds.

::Sorry, my dear, I forgot about that,:: he finally regained himself.

::Don't forget next time you see him,:: basilisk grumbled in slight disappointment.

::Sure, I'll say hi for you.::

'No, never,' Harry thought. 'At least not in the nearest future.'

::So, how is he?:: Sasha repeated her earlier question.

::Well... Better than I thought. I believe he was quite happy to have his body back, but I don't sure he's stable. By the way, he looks like a snake now, I think you'll like it.::

::An actual snake?::

::Well, no. Part human, part snake. No hairs, slits instead of the nose, some scales.::

::Interesting, I would like to see him like this. Are you going to invite him here?::

Harry hummed.

::You know it's difficult,:: he carefully said. ::Current Headmaster doesn't like him. But I'm sure he'll visit you if he'll manage to get inside Hogwarts.:: Harry suspected Voldemort was actually going to take over the school altogether at some point. Surely he'll visit Chamber of Secrets after that.

::I'll wait then.::

They set in silence. He was trying to imagine what basilisk would think about Voldemort's current look. Harry himself didn't like it, but snakes have different tastes...

::What thought-food Tom gave you?:: Sasha asked after some time.

'Thought-food?..' He mused in confusion. 'Oh, that!'

::He asked me to join him.:: Harry replayed, but he wasn't sure that basilisk will understand what's the problem with this.

::Oh, it's good! You both love magic, you should get along.::

Harry glanced back at the book on his laps. It wasn't from Hogwarts Library, not even from Restricted Section. He wasn't sure the monetary fine would be enough if someone caught him with such a book or he would receive a couple of years in Azkaban. Blood magic was, after all, one of the most dangerous Dark Arts. Harry wondered how his mother managed to get her hands on one of such books and, moreover, actually succeed in casting blood protection of a force that can reflect the Killing Curse. He began to suspect his mother really was a dark witch. That is, she had some experience with Dark Arts and Blood magic. Honestly, how did it happen? It's not like she had access to the library in the Chamber of Secrets.

He paused. No, Sasha would remember her if she was here. Still, it was an interesting question of how exactly Harry ended up being a parselmouth when his brother and his parents weren't. The question he still didn't have an answer for.

But yes. He loved magic. Including the Dark Arts. Well, to be honest, he loved mostly Dark Arts, because over time almost all fascinating kinds of magic were deemed dangerous and labelled as 'Dark'. He couldn't put it into words how immensely happy he was that he found the Chamber and its library in his second year. Thanks to the Diary.

And according to the basilisk Voldemort 'loved magic' in exactly the same meaning.

::Well, yes,:: he finally answered. ::But that wasn't the reason he asked me to join him. It was because of his believes.::

::And you don't share them?::

::Not exactly. That's the problem.::

Sasha paused and then turned her head towards Harry and looked at him with her livid yellow eyes. Thanks to special pair of eyelids he wasn't killed on the spot.

::You're alike, little heir, you and Tom. I'm sure you'll agree on something.::

Harry signed.

::I think so too,:: he confessed. ::But all my friends, my brother, they hate him. They would hate me too. It's hard. I don't... don't want to be alone.::

::But you won't. You will be with Tom,:: Harry snorted at this. ::You will find new friends.::

He didn't answer. He already knew all of this, it was almost a week that he thought about it most of the time.

Harry... actually wanted to join Voldemort. He knew perfectly well that they were alike. Well, more alike than with Dumbledore, that is. Harry believed that he fitted more with the 'Dark' than with the 'Light'. The only problem really was his friends and his family. But, again, he could try to keep it secret. After all, Voldemort wanted a spy, not that fourteen years old schoolboy was capable of anything more. That basically means that he should stay with his old friends.

There was still a risk that Voldemort indeed was an insane unstable monster. But his actions at the graveyard gave Harry hope that he may be sane. Harry wouldn't know for sure unless he came to him. And, well, it's unlikely that Voldemort will mark him right away because he's still a student and is to close to the Boy Who Lived to keep his mark a secret. Which means, that in case Voldemort turned out to be insane, Harry would be able to leave. It never too late to become the Dark Lord's enemy, after all.

So... What was keeping him here?

The letter came at breakfast on the last day of the school year brought by a nondescript brown owl.

July 8th, 3 p.m., Leaky Cauldron. Ask for a private room.

If you don't come you will be deemed as an enemy.

LV

AN:

I have a confession to make. I'm in love with the Chamber of Secrets. In my canon, there must be a library about dark arts, because really, can you tell me you wouldn't put it in there if you were Salazar Slytherin?! Canon!Harry was an idiot to never explore the Chamber.

I read it in several fanfics how the basilisk was named Sasha. And I love it. It sounds so... snakish. And it's also a really common russian name, so it's fun. How is she alive? Well, you'll learn it soon, just keep reading.

The next chapter is the meeting between Harry and Voldemort, as you might get. It's already written and will be posted in two days, but sorry, it's almost as long as the previous two chapters put together.