2
Harry had a tearful reconciliation with his mother, before going to his room, leaving Lily and Petunia to catch up. He locked the door, closed the blind, and sat crosslegged on his bed. He closed his eyes and penetrated his mind. His lips turned into a sneer as they started to spit Parseltongue.
"Tom!" he hissed. "Tom!"
"You've grown stronger, Potter," the voice of Voldemort spoke back. "You've never done this before! I suppose there's a reason for your intrusion."
"I need to talk to you. No violence, no curses, no killing. Just talk. It's important, for both our sakes."
"Why should I trust you, Potter? You'll strike me down as soon as you see me!"
"You forget, Tom, you're more powerful than I could ever be. You should have killed me in June. I've only ever had luck on my side."
"You flatter me, Potter. Where do you want to meet?"
*
Harry waited on the swing at the park. He felt a cold chill on his neck. He leapt up and turned. Voldemort was standing there, surprisingly alone. More surprisingly still, Harry's scar didn't hurt.
"So, Potter, I'm here. What do you want?"
"Did you bring the Pensieve?"
"Of course I did, I'm not an imbecile."
Harry placed his wand to his temple and drew away silvery strands, which he dropped into the large bowl Voldemort placed on the grass.
"Take a look for yourself."
Voldemort looked wary, then put his face into the liquid, and immediately fell through. A few minutes later, he emerged, eyes as wide as they could be.
"This is true?"
"I believe so."
"But my memory of it is so vivid. I killed your father first, then told your mother she could save her live. Then I killed her, before turning to you. I remember the flash, the pain, Oh God the unbearable pain. And you're telling me it didn't happen?" Harry was shocked at the way the Dark Lord was talking to him. This was the first time his voice didn't have disgust in it.
"I think Dumbledore has manipulated us, Tom. I would guess that he planted false memories in my mum, dad and you, before destroying your body, then feeding lies to everyone since."
Voldemort swore in Parseltongue. "Was this all you wanted to show me, Potter?"
"No. I want to join you."
"You what?"
"I want to join you. I've put up with Dumbledore for too long. This was the last straw. I want to destroy him."
Voldemort smiled. "Are you positive, Potter? If you turn your back, I will have to kill you."
"Yes. I'm adamant. But I'm not going to be a Death Eater. I want to be your second-in-command. And I want to learn from you. I want to learn the ways of the Dark Lord."
"You will take my Mark. That is all I ask."
Harry didn't answer. Instead he took his jacket off, and held out his left arm. Voldemort pressed his wand against Harry's flesh.
"This will hurt."
"Just do it, Tom."
"Morsmordre!" Voldemort removed his wand, and left a small black dot. Harry was about to say something when the dot started to burn. The dot started to spread until it covered Harry's arm. Harry wanted to scream, but even that hurt – his arm was on fire. Slowly but surely, the blackness started to shrink and form a shape. Eventually, Harry's arm stopped hurting, and he was left with a snake and skull tattoo – the Dark Mark.
"Thank you, Tom," Harry whispered.
"I will write to you, Potter, to let you know what is happening. Write back." With that, Voldemort spun on the spot and Disapparated away, taking the Pensieve with him.
*
Harry returned to Privet Drive later than expected with a slight spring in his step. As he entered, he heard his mum's voice. He was elated that her and his aunt were getting on. He went back up to his room as quietly as possible. When he got there, he pulled out a quill and some parchment. He wrote letters to Sirius, Hermione, Dumbledore and Ginny. They would understand more than anyone else.
"Hedwig, could you deliver these please?" he asked, unlocking her cage. The snowy owl nipped Harry affectionately. He tied the letters to her leg and sent the bird on her way.
*
Hermione was lying on her bed, reading the latest edition of the Quibbler, which she had really started to enjoy, when she heard a tapping on the window. She looked up to see Hedwig. She opened the window and took the letter with her name on it.
"Thanks, Hedwig," she said, letting the owl fly away. She opened the parchment and read eagerly.
Dear Hermione,
I haven't heard from you in a while, so I thought I'd write. Hope everything is going well for you. I needed to talk to you about something important. I got a job as a paperboy and earlier today, I delivered one to my parents. They were never killed by Voldemort – Dumbledore lied to me, and to them. He's lied to everyone, Herms. So I contacted someone I never thought I would want to talk to. I met Voldemort, and I've taken his Mark. I want to show Dumbledore for the fraud he is. I don't expect you to understand, but I really hope we won't stop being friends.
I'm going to write to Dumbledore and ask for a resorting. I feel like I should do what the Hat wanted in First Year.
Please write back.
Love Harry
P.S. Please, whatever you do, don't show this letter to Ron. He'd freak!
P.P.S Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron this Thursday at 12. I want to talk properly.
*
Ginny received a very similar letter.
Dear Ginny,
How are things? I've missed my little firepot! This letter would be so much longer, but I was running out of parchment, so here goes nothing. I've joined Voldemort, and I'm going to destroy Dumbledore. I'm also getting resorted in September. I hope we'll stay friends, but I'll understand if you don't want to be anymore. Don't let Ron see this letter! Write soon!
Love Harry
P.S. I want to talk to you about this properly. Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron at 12 this Thursday.
*
Dear Padfoot
How are you? I've got some big news for you! Dumbledore is a fucking liar. He's lied to everyone about everything. My parents are still alive. I hope you were sitting down for that. Second big newsflash: I've joined Voldemort. I hate Dumbledore for what he did, and it seemed like the right thing to do. I want to see you at 12 this Thursday at the Leaky Cauldron. Please be there.
Harry
*
Dumbledore's letter was short and to the point.
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
I've been doing some thinking this holiday, and I have come to the decision that I would like to be resorted. It's just something I need to do for myself. I hope you can allow me this.
Yours sincerely
Harry
Dumbledore sighed as he put the letter down.
"This year will be an interesting one, Fawkes."
I'm really happy about how this fic is going. So many of you have got Story Alerts and I love it! So from now on, I'll only say a thank you to reviewers to save my poor fingers.
So thank you to: DestinyDragon, Animephantom, minerdude and Makurayami Ookami. Next chapter coming soon!