A big prop to ahealybraidygmail for binge-reading their way to year six!
And thanks Caz231163 for your review too!
-HTTYD-
Loitering around in the main chambers, Harry noticed their numbers were fewer than he was used to.
"Am I missing something? Where is everybody?"
Vlad glanced up from the Romanian book Riddle had him translating (Vlad was intentionally doing so poorly, with the excuse of it no longer being his dominant language), tapping his quill.
"It's September first. A lot of these minions have offspring."
Harry sank down into a nearby chair, taking a bite from his Honeydukes chocolate bar. People were going back to Hogwarts, boarding the Hogwarts Express in a world slowly being suffocated by darkness and fear.
And Harry?
Harry was sat amongst men and women responsible for the fear, was even a source himself now many thought him turned by Vlad.
"Who's Head now?"
Vlad got information from more sources than Harry; he could read minds and hear whispers from two rooms away if he focused. So chances were, if there was a plot going on, Vlad had heard something about it.
"McGonogall took over temporarily Dumbles bit it, but the Ministry elbowed in on the whole 'security risk' and instated their own choice as Headmaster. I use the term choice loosely."
"Why?"
"Because Selwyn was recommended by Pius Thicknesse, and since Pius is currently under Yaxley's Imperius curse" Vlad clearly didn't care about being overheard, and several of the remaining Death Eaters there were eavesdropping openly "I suspect his recommendation wasn't from the heart."
He saw Vlad's fingers tighten slightly on his quill, the only indicator of his tension. Yaxley was, biologically, his grandfather. Like Harry and Riddle. Bad blood come good, hiding amongst the bad. After his enforced leash last year by Riddle on Vlad's order, it turned out his 'redemption' task was to be placing the Imperius on such a high up member of the Ministry.
"Have I met Selwyn? They've all got weird names."
Vlad leant back in his seat, pondering.
"Yeah. He was the one who killed the breather girl after she called him ugly on Saturday. He's paranoid and cruel... and really hates kids. They might as well have hired Greyback. If I hadn't put down the dog, of course."
Vlad pushed up from the table, zipped out of the room and back before most Death Eaters could blink, let alone realise they had been left alone with Harry. In his hands was a gilded, sleek book, which he laid down on the table.
"The Sacred Twenty Eight. All proven to be pureblood right the way through... of course, they would disown anyone who even might be a squib. Maybe a half-blood here or there, but no Muggle marriage. Of course, this was written back in the thirties."
Harry took the book Vlad pushed over, flipping it open and spotting several familiar names, including a couple he suspected were only 'sacred' by coincidence now. Or not at all anymore.
Abbott - Harry tried to imagine Hannah as a blood supremacist, and couldn't even picture it.
Avery
Black
Bulstrode
Burke
Carrow
Crouch
Fawley
Flint
Gaunt - definitely not, Harry knew.
Greengrass
Lestrange
Longbottom
Macmillan
Malfoy - not if Draco had any say, with his Muggle-born girlfriend.
Nott
Ollivander
Parkinson
Prewett
Rosier
Rowle
Selwyn
Shacklebolt
Shafiq
Slughorn
Travers
Weasley
Yaxley - another certainly not.
Harry flicked through to the Selwyn chapter, saw that the new Head of Hogwarts was, judging by the last birth recorded and his likely age, the last of his line. If Ollivander had children, Harry didn't know about it. As he closed the book, Harry braced himself for the lie.
"Cool."
He saw Vlad nod just so, telling Harry his response was right.
"By the way, technically Potters could have qualified before your parents broke the tradition, but a Potter offended the author of the book and he decided to replace them with the Weasleys. Technically still correct, but as they were never as affluent I expect Potter would have been preferable."
"Weasleys are blood traitors!"
Vlad spun around on his chair - his chair didn't revolve, but that didn't stop Vlad floating an inch off the floor to do it - to face the one who had spoken. Without Riddle there, many of them were just petrified idiots waiting to be told what to do.
"Yes, thank you captain obvious. As I said, this book was written before your boss reared his bald head. And if you didn't notice when he was fed to a werewolf, I don't much care for certain redheads. Let that be a reminder to anyone who's had impure thoughts of my sister... I can read your minds, and I can kill you from here without breaking a sweat."
His fangs glinted in the light before vanishing again, a hint of the monster behind the mask of cool indifference. Harry forced his focus back on the book, taking the time to examine the Gaunt line. With confusion as he read the last few links on the chart, Harry took a bit of Vlad's parchment, scribbling a question down on it. Vlad took the note, flipped it and scribbled a reply so fast Harry half-expected it to set the parchment on fire.
"When was Riddle born?"
Harry had asked, and Vlad's response read
"1926. But nobody really knew about it back then, since Merope's pregnancy wasn't common knowledge and she died at his birth. Then Riddle wasn't named Gaunt."
Harry screwed his note up and tossed it at the fire burning in the fireplace, watching it incinerate with satisfaction and relief that nobody would know what they were discussing. Finishing off his chocolate bar, Harry watched Vlad's head shoot up a good twenty seconds before Riddle, Bellatrix and baby Amara entered the room. The baby was, so far, kind of cute he guessed. He had big green eyes and a few short black curls, looked around the room with an inquisitive gaze.
Truth be told, Harry expected to feel revulsion for the baby, knowing who had created him, but the baby hadn't done anything wrong. He was just born, waiting to be raised with love. What Vlad intended to do with him, Harry didn't know but he was glad Vlad wanted to save the child from those two.
He just hoped they could.
"Morning. So, did you derail the train or just float eerily past the windows?"
Riddle rolled his eyes, then turned the crimson gaze on the followers who were standing around waiting. They all jumped, standing straighter and flocking to their leader while Vlad gave his continued translation work disdainful looks.
"Why am I even doing this? I can't be the only Romanian you know."
Vlad and Harry were about the only people who questioned Riddle, and that really showed when those unmasked were forever looking worried when Riddle scowled at the teens.
"It will become clear."
Rolling his eyes, Vlad turned back to the translation. Apparently, nobody had designed a translation spell for Romanian, perhaps because much of the magical blood there was creature rather than witch or wizard. Harry pushed the bloodline book away, leaning back to watch the followers fawn over Riddle, prostrating themselves as their leader paced back and forth, his mistress and child seated.
"With Hogwarts under my control, the Ministry is sure to follow soon. A few more key players, and by Christmas the wizarding world will quake at my feet."
"Hey, what with that curse and all" Vlad interrupted, and Harry leant in, curious "who's teaching Defence Against The Dark Arts this year?"
Riddle sneered, but indulged Vlad's question.
"The Carrow siblings have joined the faculty. For now, they play along. Alecto must be sickened to spew muggle love while her brother eases the students into darker magic."
Harry supposed there was good news in one way - no DADA teacher had lasted over a year. So unless Riddle was planning to take over his own cursed post, the current bad teacher would be ousted before Vlad and Harry's missed sixth year was done.
"Aren't they the two who look like troll rejects? Poor kids. I'm done with this for the day, if I stare at this guys messy handwriting any longer I'll kill everybody here."
Twirling his wand in hand, Harry aimed it at a random Death Eater and shot him with a stinging hex. His yelp of pain and rapid jumping around as he rubbed the spot on his thigh Harry hit was both satisfying and entertaining, both teen boys snickering to themselves as several adults glared.
"Potter, leave the juvenile behaviour at that rotten school."
"I'm bored. You took us out of Hogwarts, so there isn't much to keep me busy."
"Isn't that what she is for?"
Riddle indicated Narcissa, who was staring blankly at the far wall.
"Well, yeah, but that's not very stimulating mentally."
Amara began to cry, and that was an immediate assault on Vlad's senses, rubbing his temples as neither parent made a move to tend to the squealing infant.
"Can you shut that thing up?"
Several Death Eaters parted, revealing Bellatrix ignorant of the noise.
"He's self-soothing."
"Sweet baby bats... self soothing doesn't start until after six months. That baby is hungry, now feed it or kill it, I really don't care which so long as it shuts up."
Bellatrix stood and huffed, leaving blissfully to feed her child. Vlad only relaxed when the cries died completely, hearing far more sensitive and so the pain for him would be acute. Harry had senses beyond human, but he was no bat.
He saw Vlad's jaw muscles twitch, knuckles cracking as they stood sharp against the alabaster skin of Vlad's hand. Knew the way his face tightened meant Vlad was fighting back the noise in his head. After seeing what happened in only a brief instance of loss two days previously, Harry could see why Vlad fought so hard.
In the blink of an eye, Vlad had flung someone who was just irritating him across the room so violently he broke both the concrete wall and the man's neck. It was then Harry knew two things; Vlad was always holding back, and Harry was very grateful Vlad couldn't really get angry at him.
Back in their room after Vlad got bored of listening to Riddle pontificate, Harry watched the vampire pace.
"Hey Vlad?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't we uh... need to go to Hogwarts? Not that I'm chomping at the bit to break into Dumbledores tomb."
"Not yet. I've been keeping watch on his thoughts. He's barely thinking about Hogwarts. And even then, he's thinking about Selwyn and the Carrows. There's something else there... but he isn't thinking clearly."
"You think he knows you can read his mind?"
"He definitely suspects. If he catches me watching him, he changes thoughts pretty quick. But he wouldn't dream of admitting it, admitting I can do something better than him."
Vlad's mind, body and powers were like nothing else ever born. So nothing really surprised Harry anymore; his boyfriend was just a big anomaly. He loved him anyway. Harry was hardlu normality personified, with his basilisk-changed body, muscles he didn't exercise for and a metabolism that beggared belief.
Plus the whole transformation thing. That was pretty weird.
But they were weird together, and Harry wouldn't have it any other way.
Just bite them...
Nobody could stop you.
Turn him. Control him.
Kill her!
Vlad curled up, clutching his head and trying to silence the voices battering away on the inside of his skull like razorblades. Harry spotted him, immediately sitting next to Vlad and stroking his hair gently. Even the reflections couldn't hurt his mate; they were all one vampire, slave to the instincts of their bond.
"Just breathe. You're alright."
Slowly, the chaos went away, leaving Vlad limp and lax in muscular arms. Harry held him, waited fkr the vampire to settle.
"Better?"
"Yeah. Thank you."
Harry nuzzled his neck, the scars where he marked him tingling in response. Vlad breathed deeply, the scent of his mate soothing.
"No problem. Ready to discuss horcruxes again?"
They had been discussing them just minutes previously, then the noise in Vlad's head surged and put a halt in any conversation whatsoever.
"Yeah. So... what did we agree on?"
"Diary and ring are done. Locket was the one I chewed on. That leaves us with three. We were talking where."
"I'm thinking Hogwarts. Gringotts. And... did we agree on Nagini?"
His brain was still a little slow.
"Yeah. Samael isn't sure if it can be removed without killing her. We'll have to think on that."
"Will we?"
Harry frowned. Vlad tensed.
"I can't help it. My gut instinct is to save the snake if I can."
"Alright. We'll try. But you need to know that it might not be possible. Living creature horcruxes aren't exactly common."
"Alright. What would you do if it were me?"
"You?"
"If the horcrux was in me. How would you go about extracting the soul chunk attached to me?"
Actually, that sort of worked. Vlad's mind immediately began turning over possibilities of how to separate soul from soul piece, spurred by the mere thought of removing that taint from his mate.
"We'll try. Ok. Hogwarts. Riddle was a student, and Hogwarts was the first place he felt at home."
"So it makes sense he would hide something. Why Gringotts?"
"He's a thief. A coveter of what others have. Gringotts vaults are like status symbols. Anyone can make an account, but remember the Malfoy vaults? The dragon guards and the magical precautions and the size."
"So you think he put something in an old family vault? Not his, but anothers?"
"Yeah. And there's a couple of more obvious candidates."
"Lestrange? I mean, he's practically playing happy dysfunctional families with Bellatrix. And they were in that book."
Burrowing tighter into Harry's hold, Vlad sighed.
"Yeah. Half down, half to go. All we have to do is break into Hogwarts and Gringotts, steal Nagini and a baby, not get caught when both sides are out for our blood."
"And kill the big daddy bad guy."
"Theoretically, that shouldn't be difficult at the end. With nothing to tie his soul after death, and you being immortal and full of power and poison."
"Me?"
"There is a lot of things I can and will do for you, but something in my gut tells me you have to be the one to truly end him."
Harry hummed, then nodded.
"Yeah. Me too."
-YDHP-
Short, I know, but this was just the right cut off point for what's coming.
