Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of its wonderful characters belong to JK Rowling
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The two of them landed in an office of sorts. It was filled with books and the large desk was filled with parchment and scrolls with varying writings and blueprints. It was elegant and pristine and done in shades of black, green and silver. On the floor by a roaring fire a massive snake lay curled up. It lifted its head up when they arrived in the room and greeted Voldemort warmly before turning to inspect Harry.
"You are the child that freed me from that horrible place. I am pleased to finally see you again," she hissed.
"Excuse me?" Harry replied startled.
"The place where those horrible humans kept me. Always pointing at me and pounding on the glass disturbing my sleep. Always cooped up. You were the one who helped me escape," replied the snake.
Harry thought about it for a moment and then was struck with the memory of Dudley's birthday party and the snake he'd accidentally released from the zoo before trapping Dudley in the same cage.
"That was you!" said Harry in shock staring at the snake with renewed interest.
"Yes and I am eternally grateful to you, child. When you granted me my freedom I decided to repay you and it is for this reason that I sought out your sire and provided him with my aid," she hissed and slithered over to Harry to affectionately rub her diamond shaped head against his leg.
"What is all this about, Nagini?" Voldemort demanded reminding Harry he was still in the room.
"Your hatchling was the one who freed me from the human prison I was kept in," replied the snake.
"Really," hissed Voldemort looking intrigued. "You'll have to tell me all about it." He said while looking at Harry with amusement.
Harry gave a brief description of his trip to the zoo and his releasing of the giant snake that had somehow become Voldemort's familiar.
"Hmm I'd like to hear more about these muggle relatives of yours. I believe there is—" Voldemort's voice cut off and he let out a brief hiss and bowed his head in pain.
At first Harry didn't understand what was wrong but when Voldemort grew taller and the blonde hair started to turn a deep black he realized it was the effects of polyjuice potion wearing off. However the shape he was transforming back to, wasn't the one Harry had been expecting. Harry was shocked when the changes ended and standing before him was a tall, handsome dark haired man in his 40s. He was obviously an older version of Tom Riddle with the neatly styled black hair and the handsome aristocratic features. He even had a nose, one that was similar to Harry's own. The only thing that was similar to the Voldemort he'd seen stepping out of the cauldron in the graveyard were the deep blood red eyes.
"Were you expecting my other form?" asked Voldemort in a silky, cultured baritone that was very different from the sibilant hissings of before.
Harry nodded still stunned by this new revelation.
"Ah my half snake persona has been crafted as part as my evil madman routine to scare the masses. Only my most trusted followers are aware that that is not my true appearance," replied Voldemort sounding almost pleasant.
"How do you do it?" asked Harry his mind whirring through how such a transformation could be accomplished. Perhaps a partial animagus transformation. Harry wanted to know.
"Perhaps I will teach later," said Voldemort with a knowing smirk. "Now come along. I shall introduce you to your mother."
"Isn't she married?" Harry asked feeling somewhat timid now that he was actually going to meet his mother.
"It was a cover. She is the only person I have ever had a somewhat consistent relationship… I suppose would be the proper term for our involvement with one another. I feared that people would start to get ideas about using her to get to me and asked one of my most loyal followers to marry her. Rodolphus is incapable of having children so marrying Bellatrix who comes from an ancient and powerful pureblood family like his own was really no trouble considering it would be in name only. So there is no need to worry. There was nothing scandalous about your birth all parties involved were aware of what was going on. So need to worry your honorable little heart that you were some deep dark secret. Of course all but my Inner Circle believed you to be Rodolphus' child so, in part, I suppose you were a secret," replied Voldemort.
"Good to know," murmured Harry.
Surprisingly Voldemort handed Harry back his wand before leading Harry from the study. It was comforting to have his wand back in his possession. He also couldn't help but feel that Voldemort giving him back his wand was making the statement that even with a wand Harry had no hopes of beating Voldemort. He led him through the hallways of the large and beautiful manor house. Nagini had followed asking Harry if Dudley was still just as large and annoying as he had been at the zoo. Harry told her he was worse. Nagini then offered to bite Dudley for him. Harry thanked her but politely declined. Harry saw Voldemort giving him probing looks out of the corners of his eyes and Harry knew that Voldemort would be asking more questions about the Dursleys later. It was kind of nice to see Voldemort cared about the way the Dursleys had treated Harry but Harry was afraid that if he told him the truth it might end up in the deaths of the Dursleys.
As they were approaching the room where his mother was Harry could hear shrieks and the crash of something colliding with the wall. Harry sent a nervous glance towards Voldemort but the man just smirked, not seeming at all perturbed even when the shouts became more distinguishable.
"Stop mothering me Cissy before I hex you into oblivion!" came a woman's fierce snarl.
"Bella, you've only been out of Azkaban for a few weeks you need to rest," replied a calm feminine voice that had a bit of an edge to it.
"I don't need rest. I need to be out there making those pathetic wittle Aurors and Order members pay for the years I spent in Azkaban and for what they did to my baby!" the other woman snarled back.
"She's right Bella we need our rest. Doing too much too quickly can cause more harm than good," said a soothing male voice as Harry and Voldemort reached the doorway of a parlor which held five people.
Harry recognized all of them. Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange he easily recognized from Daily Prophet articles and wanted posters. They were seated on a couch with bowls of soup in front of them. It had been Rodolphus who had spoken and was looking worriedly at where Bellatrix stood. Lucius Malfoy, the smarmy bastard, was sitting across from the brothers watching the fight between his wife and Bellatrix with wary eyes. Narcissa Malfoy was glaring at Bellatrix who was glaring right back. Her own bowl of soup was dripping down the wall near Narcissa's head.
Harry took the moment to observe his mother. He had never thought he would ever get the chance to meet his mother but here she was. She was in her 40s now but her long dark curls didn't have any gray in them despite her years in Azkaban. However she wasn't completely unaffected from her time there. She was gaunt like Sirius had been and in fact it made it easier to see the familial resemblance since they had similar bone structure. Her eyes were heavy lidded and a pale gray like his own. She had full lips that were pulled back in a snarl and Harry believed that if not for the fact she was half starved she would have been the most beautiful woman Harry had ever seen. Of course maybe Harry was being biased because he was simply so thrilled to see his mother.
"I will not take orders from you. I have been cooped up here for far too long. I should be out there helping my Lord and seeking my revenge. I will have my revenge and none of you can stop me!" Bellatrix snarled.
"Bella my dear, you would harm yourself after all the hard work I've done to free you and see you safe? Perhaps you will change your mind when you see what I've brought for you," said Voldemort in his silky tones.
Everyone in the room's attention immediately snapped to Voldemort like he was some magnetic force that they were all drawn to. Harry could see the adoration that instantly sprung up in his mother's eyes as she looked at Voldemort. However everyone's attention was quickly diverted when Voldemort gave Harry a firm push, shoving him into the spotlight so speak. Bellatrix's eyes turned towards him. For a moment she just stared taking him with a critical gaze. Then her eyes flashed to Voldemort who gave a discreet nod of confirmation. Harry watched as her eyes widened a comical amount. Her mouth dropped open and before Harry knew what was happening she had released a cry that was part joy part disbelief and launched herself at him.
Harry was barely able to stay on his feet with the force with which she attacked him. Her arms wrapped tightly around him in a crushing hold as if she would never let him go again and she began to croon to him.
"Oh my baby, my baby. I thought I had lost you. I thought I would never see you again. My baby boy, my sweet wittle prince I can't believe that I have you back," she breathed rocking him slightly which was awkward seeing as how he was taller than she was.
Harry found himself relaxing into her arms despite the constrictor like hold she had on him. He tentatively wrapped his own arms around her and pressed his nose against her hair to breathe in her scent. It was pleasant and vaguely familiar as if a subconscious part of him recognized her.
"My lord how is this possible?" questioned Rodolphus Lestrange looking just as stunned as the others in the room.
"Ah that I can explain and it is something I am most displeased with," replied Voldemort his tone dark and dangerous and promising a bloody demise to whoever had displeased him. The others shuddered as well, they were intimately familiar with what that tone meant.
Bellatrix pulled back from her crushing hold to begin a more thorough examination of Harry's features. Harry smiled timidly at her enjoying the gentle touches and the look of fierce maternal pride in her eyes as she gazed at him. All of her previous rage seemed to have vanished as she now regarded Harry with a look of pure devotion and love. Harry recognized that she wasn't quite all there but he couldn't find it within himself to care. She was his mother and she loved him and right now that was enough for Harry.
"My beautiful boy," she cooed. "Where have you been?"
"Come sit Bella and I will tell you the whole sordid tale," Voldemort commanded softly as he moved towards one of the couches.
Bellatrix moved to sit beside him taking Harry along with her. She placed Harry between the two of them and sat closely to him. She continued to stroke her fingers through his hair as if afraid to let him go for even a moment but her gaze turned towards Voldemort as he began to tell them about his chance meeting with Harry. When the revelation came about James and Lily Potter stealing Harry and hiding him as their own child Bellatrix's shriek of rage was terrifying. She looked like she was contemplating finding a way to resurrect them only to kill them again but this time more slowly and painfully. Harry would have edged away from her but the death grip she held on his arm was strong enough to keep a giant in place.
Voldemort moved on to tell them about the Daily Prophet articles and about how he would be changing his plans. He didn't say what those plans were but it piqued Harry's interest since the others were all frowning and looking thoughtful. While Harry had agreed to come with Voldemort he wasn't sure about joining him. Harry didn't know if he had it in him to torture and kill others. While a part of him understood what Voldemort had been saying about muggleborns and their impact on wizarding society, Harry still wasn't sure if it exactly justified murdering them. Harry knew he'd never go back to Dumbledore but where did that leave him? He was adrift on a side all of his own. But how long could that last? The war was certain to get worse and he knew eventually Voldemort would make him choose. He wasn't the type that would ever leave anything to chance and letting his own son not join his cause wasn't in his nature. Would he eventually kill Harry if he didn't join him? The answer was probably yes. However knowing this didn't make Harry want to leave. He recognized that he didn't really have anywhere else to go, no other friends to take him and the only family he had was sitting in this room with him.
"Come along Antares we'll set up a room for you and get you fitted for some proper robes," Bellatrix announced cheerfully once the briefing about Harry's sudden appearance had concluded. They had all seemed to take this sudden information in stride and were even now looking towards the future and how this could benefit them.
Harry wasn't sure what was more terrifying Bellatrix in a temper or Bellatrix in a cheerful mood as she led the way out of the parlor.
"Bella you need to rest, you're still severely malnourished," Narcissa complained.
"I'm fine Cissy. More than fine. My beautiful baby that I had thought I had lost has now been returned to me. I haven't felt this good since torturing the Longbottoms," she replied happily.
Harry flinched slightly at the reminder that she had tortured Neville's parents into insanity. It worried him even more that he wasn't more bothered with it. Harry worried that he was already too attached and that he was letting his need for acceptance cloud his better judgment. But seeing his mother and seeing her so happy made him happy. Having her affections and seeing her obvious devotion was doing strange things to Harry. He'd never had that motherly affection before, only brief examples from Molly Weasley, but he'd never been the sole focus of that affection before and he had to say that he rather enjoyed. He liked having someone be concerned about his welfare and wanting to provide for him. He'd never had that and it was simply nice to experience it even if it was someone who wasn't quite sane.
Narcissa eventually conceded but she came with them to watch over Bellatrix like a worrying mother hen. It was while they were walking that Harry realized that Bellatrix and Narcissa had similar features. Of course Bellatrix was dark haired and Narcissa was pale blonde but they had similar chins and noses.
"Are you two related?" Harry blurted out really hoping that the answer would be no.
"We are sisters which makes me your aunt," replied Narcissa smiling warmly at Harry which couldn't help but make him feel welcomed.
"Yes Cissy is my sweet baby sister. Who often forgets that role and tries to mother me," sighed Bellatrix with a role of her eyes.
"So that means…" Harry trailed off not liking the thought.
"Draco is your cousin. He's at home at the moment. I'll have to fetch him later and we can all have dinner tonight so that the two of you may be properly introduced. I'm sure he will be just thrilled with the news. The two of you should have been raised as brothers, you know, but it's no matter. I'm sure the two of you will be thick as thieves in no time at all," said Narcissa happily.
Harry wasn't sure how he felt about being cousins with Draco Malfoy. He guessed it couldn't really be any worse than being Voldemort's son. It was also sort of an improvement on having Dudley Dursley for a cousin.
"We also have another sister Andromeda. She's younger than Bella but older than I am. She—" but Narcissa was cut off.
"Is nothing but a filthy blood traitor for going off and marrying that mudblood Tonks and having that half breed daughter of hers," Bellatrix snarled.
"Yes, I met her. Nymphadora Tonks she's an Auror. She was nice to me," replied Harry.
"Yes that's Andromeda's daughter," said Narcissa looking a little sad.
Harry pictured the pink haired woman he had met. At the time he hadn't really thought about it. But she was his cousin too and she had tried to help put him at ease when Sirius had been ignoring him. She was definitely preferable to Draco. It seemed that he was gaining more and more relatives. It was nice to have more family that just the Dursleys. For so long he'd been alone and now he had quite a few people he could call family and what's more is that they seemed to actually want him even knowing that he had been Harry Potter.
"The girl chose her side when she became an Auror and joined Dumbledore's little group of rebels as far as I'm concerned she is no niece of mine," Bellatrix huffed indignantly.
Narcissa only sighed noncommittally.
They brought Harry to a large room that was done in the same elegant décor as the rest of the manor so far. Bellatrix summoned a house elf and proceeded to bully it into taking Harry's measurements and then commanding the terrified little thing to order a great amount of different robes for Harry.
"You're just as handsome as your father, my Antares," Bellatrix cooed at him, it didn't even seem to register with her that he had spent the last almost fifteen years as Harry Potter. To her he was just her son. "Although you do have some distinct Black features."
"So that's my name isn't it? My real name?" Harry asked curiously not really knowing how he felt about being called a new name. Because if was being honest with himself he wasn't really Harry Potter anymore and he didn't really want to be. That didn't mean he necessarily wanted to start going by a new name and that really didn't give him a lot of options.
A fierce scowl came over Bellatrix's features. "Your name is Antares Salazar Black. It is a tradition in the Black family to be named after stars or constellations, which is why you were given the name Antares. It is a star in the constellation Scorpius. Salazar was for your father's great and noble ancestor. And your father chose Black as your surname because of its noble and ancient heritage and because he did not wish to continue the surname of his filthy muggle father."
Harry was surprised that someone who was as blood obsessed as Bellatrix was aware of the fact that the man she worshipped and adored was a half blood. But it seemed like Voldemort was right, most were willing to overlook it because of his power, intelligence and the fact that he was the last living ancestor of Salazar Slytherin. Or at least he was until Harry.
"When's my birthday? How long did I live with you before the fire?" asked Harry inquisitively.
"You were born November 7th 1979 and you were taken away from me only a few weeks after your first birthday," said Bellatrix and for once she didn't look fiercely angry or terrifyingly cheerful. She just looked sad. Her features were drawn and there was such a deep sorrow in her gray depths that Harry had little doubt that she really and truly did love him and that his supposed death had caused her a great deal of pain. This made him even angrier at the Potters for taking him away from her and causing her and himself all this unnecessary pain.
"So I'm already fifteen. In fact I'll be sixteen soon," said Harry a little awed by the fact that he was almost a year older then had believed himself to be.
"Yes and we'll have a grand celebration like in the old days. We used to have such wonderful balls. Don't you agree Cissy?"
"Yes they were lovely," agreed Narcissa a soft, dreamy sort of smile on her face.
"You loved them more than I. But after years in Azkaban I even find myself missing the events. They were always a great place to recruit new followers," said Bellatrix wistfully.
"It was a time when the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black held a venerated place in wizarding society. Now everyone associates us with that blood traitor Sirius. He thought himself so high mighty for joining the Light and look where it got him: a cell in Azkaban only a few feet from my own," Bellatrix cackled in delight.
"Yes perhaps if Sirius had remained loyal to the family grandfather Pollux could have gotten him out of it. I don't believe they ever even gave him a proper trial," Narcissa commented scornfully.
Harry felt the urge to defend Sirius to them but it wilted at the memory of Sirius's newfound disgust for him.
Once everything in his new room was settled Bellatrix, after escaping a berating Narcissa, led Harry around the rest of the manor house. It was very open and beautiful. Though it was obviously elegant and had a lot of money put into it, it was also comfortable and strangely welcoming. Bellatrix explained that it was Voldemort's personal manor house. Only the Inner Circle knew of its location and were allowed entrance to the home. Death Eater meetings were conducted in other safe houses. There were no dungeons or torture chambers that Harry was aware of. It was very far from what he imagined Voldemort's home to be like. Of course that didn't stop Harry from having a slight nervous breakdown once the full impact of where he was hit him.
What was he doing!? He had just traipsed off with Voldemort to his super secret hideaway with hardly a second thought! He was now in the company of Azkaban escapees who tortured muggles for a good laugh. If the Light hated him before they'd certainly hate him when they heard about his moving in with Voldemort.
"Are you alright darling?" Bellatrix asked, drawing him out of his chaotic thoughts with a gentle touch to his shoulder.
Harry flinched away. He wasn't used to people touching him so few people had ever done so in his life.
"I'm fine," assured Harry forcing a smile.
Bellatrix searched his features carefully.
"No, I don't believe you are. What's wrong?"
"Just a lot to take in," replied Harry with a shrug.
Bellatrix regarded him shrewdly and Harry looked away feeling like she was looking into the very depths of his soul.
"You miss those fools," she stated blandly.
Harry shrugged. It was hard to just turn off his feelings. The Weasleys, Hermione, Remus and Sirius had been the closest thing he'd ever had to a real family. They had been the only people to ever care for him and he missed them. Yes he was angry by the way they treated him but it was going to take him more than just two weeks to get over years of emotional attachment.
"They are unworthy of your loyalty, my darling. Unworthy of your love. They are unworthy of you. The Light are a bunch hypocrites who do nothing but spout how wicked and evil we are for wanting to maintain our way of life. And yes we aren't exactly all sunshine and lollies but we don't deserve their scorn and hate. If left to our devices to practice as we wish we wouldn't even have had to resort to fighting our fellow wizards. But they can't leave us in peace and that is why we are at war. The Light fear our magic and call it evil and unnatural. They outlaw the magic that our ancestors have used for centuries. And as soon as they discovered that you were the child of two powerful Dark wizards they threw you away without a second thought. True families do not turn their backs on one another," said Bellatrix.
"You turned your backs on Sirius and Andromeda," Harry argued.
"They were the ones who ran away from home," snapped Bellatrix.
"Because you wanted them to be something they're not," Harry snapped back. A part of him wanted to fight with Bellatrix, to make her angry and see just how far he could push her until she sent him away too.
"No, they were the ones who wanted us to change our beliefs. Beliefs that the Black family has held for centuries. Beliefs that have been based on experience at the hands of muggle cruelty. So many of our ancestors were burned at the stake or ripped apart by muggle mobs all because of the muggles' jealousy and fear towards magic. They forgot all about our ancestors suffering and just ran off to join that muggle loving fool Dumbledore," Bellatrix said her eyes blazing with the intensity of her fervor.
"But those things happened centuries ago. You can't expect them to make decisions based on things that happened so long ago," Harry insisted.
"They may have happened years ago but they can happen again. The muggles' technology is growing by leaps and bounds. The Dark Lord has always kept a close eye on their achievements since he grew up with them and knows what they are capable of. It won't be long before they become aware of us once more and then where will we be? Do you think they will welcome us with open arms? Their governments would see our magic, our power and they would covet it. But more importantly they would fear it and this fear would lead to hate. They would want to destroy us just like they did in the old days because we hold power they cannot comprehend.
"They cannot be taught to accept us for there would always be those few who still feared, still hated and they would come after us. Our powers are greater than theirs but there are so many of them and their population becomes greater every year. So that is why we must strike. Why we must fight our fellow wizards who would see to protect the muggle filth. In protecting the muggles they are protecting our own eventual destruction," she said her eyes drilling into Harry's and even though her speech was impassioned and a bit extreme, in that moment she looked perfectly sane and that was what truly scared Harry.
Her words sent a shiver down his spine because they held a hint of the truth. His thoughts turned towards the Dursleys. They were a perfect example of how muggles could react when they found out about magic. He knew no amount of teaching or friendly gestures would get them to accept magic or look at wizards favorably. And there would be others out there who would be even worse, who wouldn't just shun magic but would actively seek to destroy it. Of course there would be those who did embrace it but they couldn't cancel out the others who would wish to see an end to it.
"We can't just kill them all," Harry choked out.
"Tell me if you were in a kill or be killed situation what would you do?" demanded Bellatrix.
"I suppose I would have to kill them before they killed me," replied Harry reluctantly.
"Then there is your answer," said Bellatrix primly as if Harry had just agreed with everything she had just said.
"But I don't think I could ever torture someone. I mean how could you?" Harry asked. The question had been bothering him and it had made him feel uneasy knowing that he was the child of two people who not only murdered others but seemed to enjoy doing it.
"Because it's fun," said Bellatrix with an insane grin.
"What!?" cried Harry.
"Don't worry my darling, mummy will teach you all about how to play fun games," she said with a clap of delight and a cackle.
Harry felt trepidation creeping up his spine and wondered if he should just leave now. He couldn't quite bring himself to do it though. She may be insane but she was his mother and he wasn't quite ready to leave her yet. So with a sigh defeat he continued to follow her through the house.
I hoped everyone liked the chapter! Just an aside I read somewhere that JK Rowling said Nagini was the snake Harry freed from the zoo. I'm not sure if it's true but I just thought it would be an interesting connection to add to this particular story what with Harry and Voldemort's connection. Hope no one minds :)
