AN: Welcome to the tenth chapter! Thank all of you for your reviews, I really like to read them all!

oooOOooo

Ancestors

The next morning Harry woke with new determination. He was going to seize the opportunity and learn as much as he could as long as he had to stay in the enemy's camp. With this thought he made his way to his own bathroom to freshen up before getting dressed.

As he came out again, half an hour later, he found a stack of letters on top of his desk. Curious, he walked over, only clad in a towel wrapped around his middle.

The letters were from almost everyone he knew. Hermione's letter was the thickest, there were letters from Ron, the twins, Ginny, Sirius, Remus, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley... but none from the Headmaster. Happy that his friends had written, at not being forgotten, Harry turned to get dressed first.

He opened the door to the walk-in wardrobe – a concept that boggled his mind – and looked at the selection of robes, shirts, and trousers he now had to choose from. Wandering between the shelves, Harry let his fingers trail over the soft fabric. Finally he settled for simple dark grey, almost black trousers, black socks, an off-white shirt, and a pair of comfortable black leather shoes. He would go to Diagon Alley today and – he cringed inside at admitting this – as the heir for the Noble House of Potter, he needed to project a certain image. As he came to stand by the robes lined up on their hangers, he briefly brushed his fingers over the fine silk of his two formal robes.

One was done in different shades of green, a middle green base with embellishments and embroidery done in lighter and darker shades along the hems and seams. Only the coat of arms of the Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin was done in fine silver thread. Right next to it was an equally posh robe done in a deep, dark, brownish-red with embroidery reminiscent of flames. Here the coat of arms was done in gold. The tailor was still struggling with coming up with a way to combine the family colours of both the families he was heir to, without it looking like some Christmas decoration.

Voldemort had explained yesterday that Harry would wear one of the three robes, depending on the occasion and which role he had to play.

It was all a little much to take in, but Harry loved having a robe to wear to represent the Potter family. Taking a step further down to the more everyday robes, Harry picked one with wide arms, which only had buttons over his chest, but was open otherwise, in a deep, vibrant, Caribbean blue. The tailor had literally spent hours holding swatches of different coloured fabric to Harry's face to find those that suited him the most.

Stepping out of the wardrobe room, now fully dressed and with the gold wire-frame glasses on his nose, he went to the desk, sat down, and opened the first letter from the top, breaking the seal.

Hermione told him about her research in the library to find some way to get him back again. She rambled on about magical family gifts and how fascinating it all was. Harry could tell she had written the letter in a rush. Normally they were more structured than the letter he currently held in his hands. That he would have lessons on different topics was fine by her book, and she encouraged him to keep his eyes open and learn.

Ron's letter, the next on the stack, was much shorter. He promised some kind of rescue mission, like the one they had launched in the summer after first year, and lost track trying to come up with a substitute for the flying car. He told him to use the chance to try to spy on the enemy, maybe even sabotage the enemy's plans.

The letter from the twins was written in two different hands. They had taken turns writing it, bringing a smile to Harry's face. They told him about the plans for their joke business, that they had started looking for a shop and were developing quite a bit during the holidays, whenever they managed to slip their mother's attention. They even asked if Harry thought he could use his "in" with the Slytherins to open a new market to them for their products. They closed on a promise to find a way to get him back and a sentence stating that they would refrain from relaying their mother's orders to keep his head down and out of trouble.

Sirius promised to keep in contact and to do all he could think of to get Harry home. Well, short of illegal things, as he was certain Harry would kick his ass if he got himself sent back to Azkaban.

Ginny's letter was too sentimental to read, and the ink was smudged in places where it looked as if some drops had fallen onto the parchment. A little uncomfortable with this sign that Ron's younger sister still had a crush on him, he laid this letter quickly aside.

Remus had not written much and mostly advised him not to lose his head.

The letter from Ron's parents basically was a warning not to do anything stupid, like running away, and to gather information, sending it in a letter, so they could find a way to reverse the adoption.

Harry frowned, there were quite a lot of hints that he should gather information and relay it to the Order. Shrugging and dismissing it as coincidence, Harry got up and left his room to go to breakfast.

In the hall he met Theodore, who left his room at the same moment. As the other boy turned around and saw Harry, he smiled politely, gave a tiny bow from the waist, and greeted, "Good morning, Heir Slytherin-Potter."

Harry groaned and gave Theodore a withering look. "Is that really necessary?" They started walking side by side.

"Yes, it is. You are the heir to two Noble Houses, and one of them is an Ancient and Noble House to boot. And I'm only the heir to House Nott, nothing with noble. So there are rules we both have to follow."

"Wonderful!" Harry said with feeling and sarcasm. "And there's nothing we can do to change that? Wait!" Harry whirled to face the other teen. "I've always been Heir of the Noble House of Potter. No one ever addressed me as heir at school."

Stopping himself, Theodore turned to face Harry. "Yes, the rules at school are different. It is not as strict. But at the moment, you're a guest here at Nott House, and so all the rules apply."

With an exasperated huff Harry started to walk again. "And there's nothing we can do about it? I'll go mad if this continues for the rest of summer."

Laughing, Theodore fell into step with him. "Well, you could allow me to call you by your given name. There's no other way. And on occasion the formal address still would be the one to use."

They turned a corner and started to descend the stairs. "Oh, what a lovely hell." Harry weighed his options. He really did not want to be called Heir Slytherin-Potter the entire time he would be staying here. Did he want a Slytherin, one of the people that had taunted and bullied him in the past, to call him Harry? With disgust he realized that the name change he had not asked for now could come in handy. He could allow Theodore to call him Henry, or live with being called Heir Slytherin-Potter all of the time. Remembering the nice afternoon they'd had together flying on their brooms and playing chaser against each other, he took a good look at the Slytherin in front of him. Sighing, Harry rubbed his hand over his forehead. He composed himself and offered in a polite tone, "I would be glad if you would call me Henry."

Extending his hand, Theodore answered, "And you should call me Theodore." They shook hands and made their way down the hall and to the dining room.

Harry's life had taken on a surreal feeling, he wondered if it ever would feel normal again.

Sitting down at the breakfast table, after greeting the adult wizards already deep in the newspaper, Harry accepted a section of the Prophet, as reading seemed better than staring at the others while they were reading.

He got the part with the advertisements and notices. He skimmed over them, at times pausing to have a closer look at one. There were witches offering to swap editions of Witch Weekly, offers of crup pups or kneazle kittens, one mother of a five-year-old boy was searching for others that would be willing to join in a sort of neighbourhood school to teach the children reading, writing, and maths. Harry had always wondered how the students from wizarding families learned the basics. Now he knew of two ways, hiring teachers if you were rich, or doing everything alone if there was no money to waste. But home-schooling was seemingly the way to go.

Taking a bite out of his toast with scrambled eggs, he read some of the job offers. The Knight Bus was searching for a second driver to cover half of the shifts, and it seemed that Professor Dumbledore was still on the search for a new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor.

Harry almost choked on his tea as he came across a job offer posted by Lord Slytherin. It read:

Tutor for History of Magic needed. OWL preparation. One student, several hours per week, possibly continuing after term start. Beginning at earliest possible time. Teaching experience and NEWT in history required. Pay negotiable.

Dumbfounded, Harry dropped the paper to the table and set the cup down. The others were also looking up from their reading. Blushing, Harry realized that they had heard his reaction to the job offer.

"What is the matter, Henry?" Voldemort asked "Are you all right?"

Taking a deep breath and coughing some more, Harry shook his head. "I'm fine. Just surprised. You placed a job offer in the Daily Prophet, sir? Why only for History? Did you already get an answer about my grades?" He felt off balance. Did he really only need tutoring for history? That didn't feel right. And it certainly was not enough time to get a report in his grades from Hogwarts, was it?

Raising one brow and folding the newspaper, Voldemort turned slightly in his chair to face Harry more directly. "No, I have not yet received an answer. But you said that History and Potions are your worst subjects. So it seems prudent to get you tutoring in these, regardless of what your actual grades are."

Still looking confused, Harry debated if he should ask, and decided that yes he would. Voldemort seemed to be determined to get him educated, so questions regarding said education should be at least remotely safe. "Then why only search for a tutor to teach me History?" But even before Voldemort could answer this, realisation dawned on Harry and a look of horror replaced the confusion.

"As you realized, I have a tutor for Potions already at hand. And," he said in response to Harry getting paler by the second, "it would do you well to have a cordial working relationship with your Potions Professor once you are back at Hogwarts." An evil smirk appeared on Voldemort's handsome face, sending cold shivers down Harry's spine. "I think that Severus will be sufficiently motivated to do better in teaching you than he did before." Taking his napkin to dab at his mouth, Voldemort studied Harry and finally added, "And if it does not work out, after a decent try to make it work, mind you, I will find you another tutor."

Contemplating this, Harry came to the conclusion that this maybe was not the worst possible outcome. Snape could be a link to Dumbledore and the Order. Even if they could not stand to be near each other, the Potions Professor had saved Harry's life in the past, and his advice, before Harry had been brought to the Ministry to be handed over to the man who had tried to kill him, had proved valuable. He shuddered at the thought of how exactly Voldemort would make sure Snape was motivated. He probably ought to make a real effort to spare the most hated professor of Hogwarts the torture if they failed to work together.

Deciding not to chance pushing too far too soon, Harry just nodded said "Yes, sir," and resumed his breakfast.

oooOOooo

It had been a whole day since Harry had left Grimmauld Place with Mr. Weasley, and spirits among those in the house were accordingly downtrodden.

Eating their breakfast, the Weasleys, Hermione, Sirius, and Remus did not speak much. Dishes were passed back and forth between the people sitting at the table, the room filled with the scent of freshly baked bread, coffee, and fried sausages and bacon.

The twins were bent over the Daily Prophet searching for advertisements of shops to rent. They wanted to get a feel for how much money they needed to put aside for the rent of rooms to set their shop up in. And then Fred spotted a job offer that got his attention. Pointing it out to his brother they both read it carefully once more before addressing their former Defence Professor across the room.

"Professor Lupin, sir!"

"Still looking for a job?"

"We might have found the opportunity for you!"

Smiling despite the gloomy mood, the werewolf answered, "I am not a professor anymore, so please call me Remus. And you both know that I am searching for a job. I don't think that someone will hire a werewolf, though."

"We think that that..." "...Will probably not be an issue with this..." "Job offer."

Fred charmed the page with the job offer to fly as a bird over to the confused and curious-looking Remus Lupin. Fishing the paper bird from the air, Remus started to read, while Molly Weasley glowered at her sons. She did not approve of their chosen career path and made this clear whenever she could find a chance to bring it up, even making some up if none presented themselves.

Sirius was eyeing his friend and the twins, who looked really excited about the advertisement they had found, trying to understand what was so special about it. Losing his rather short patience, he got up from his chair and went around the table to read over his friend's shoulder. And after he read it once, he started again at the beginning. "That is an opportunity," stated Sirius. It took several more minutes until the last of the marauders had wrapped their minds around this and started to plan.

In the end, Remus and Sirius decided that Remus would apply to be the History tutor for Harry. As they were pretty sure that You-Know-Who was not the one hiring a tutor for himself. Even if Fred, or George, reminded them that he actually had to take his OWLs and NEWTs again, startling a laugh out of everyone.

Molly was not happy with Sirius' making a decision without consulting the Headmaster first, but she had no means to hinder the men, and so Remus sat down, writing an application for the job of History tutor.

oooOOooo

Marvolo was sitting in his chair in the study at Nott House. Severus was standing opposite him, projecting calm. But Marvolo was sure that this was only a thin layer over a maelstrom of conflicting emotions and fear.

At the moment, he was waiting for his son to come down. He had sent Henry to his room to try to tame his hair some. He barely was able to contain a smirk as he saw the boy rolling his eyes at this order. But the boy was probably right, taming that mop of hair could prove to be impossible.

Between the Potions Master and his Lord stood a case with dozens of small vials filled with the various potions Henry would have to take to recover from the damage done to him by those generously called his family. Severus had likely been up all night to get them brewed to be ready to be taken for breakfast today.

"I have asked you to stay, to discuss two points with you." With that Marvolo got the other wizard's full attention. "First, I want you to tutor my son in Potions. I am certain that he will be motivated to study hard, and you should be able to leave old animosity in the past." He added with a smirk, "Now that you no longer have to pretend to hate the boy. And for the Headmaster, you can pretend to pretend to be nice for a change." He had thought about calling his new son "Lily's son" but decided against it. That would have been a cruel blow, and he was trying to get Severus firmly back on his side, so no low blows for a while. He saw Severus swallowing. "And be sure to start with the basics. It seems that the old meddler made sure that Henry was totally unprepared."

"Yes, my Lord."

Getting the small vial with potion he had prepared himself from a heavily warded drawer of the desk, Marvolo fixed his most effective spy with a speculative gaze. "We need to find a time for this. When can you be missing for a day without Dumbledore getting suspicious?"

The Potions Master eyed the vial with a little fear in his eyes, and then switched his gaze back to Marvolo. "He will not suspect anything, even if I should vanish for more than a day. He knows that you having a task for me is going to happen more often now. I made it clear that I will not always be able to inform him of my absence."

Marvolo noted the artificial calm but did not comment on it. "Come over after dinner tonight, you can stay the day and sleep off the effects. After that, I have several more … challenging research tasks for you."

At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Henry stepped through the door after Marvolo had opened it with a wave of his hand, at the same time depositing the vial back in its warded hiding place. It was thrilling to be able to wield his magic so easily again.

The boy's gaze fell onto his Potions Professor at once, and he stiffened as he walked in to stand before both men. "I'm ready, sir."

Assessing this statement, Marvolo looked his son over and noted that he was neatly dressed but his hair still resembled a bird's nest. "Did you try growing your hair out?" The boy shook his head. Marvolo raised a brow and gave the teen a pointed look, waiting for him to catch up. Finally the boy realized what the problem was and added a "No, sir."

"Maybe you should try. Longer hair might be more manageable. Think about it."

Leaving the topic of the Potter family curse – unmanageable hair – behind, Marvolo addressed both other wizards with a small speech he had prepared. "Starting after we have settled into our own home, you both will start working on getting along. You," he turned to his adopted son, "will do your best to be respectful and learn from your tutor. And you," he turned to the Potions Professor, "will start to teach my son to the best of your ability and with patience. Is that clear?"

A sullen "Yes, sir," and a respectful "Yes, my Lord," were his answers. "Good." He stood and straightened his robes, casting a small charm wandlessly to get rid of the wrinkles that came so easy to linen clothes. "I will see you in the evening, Severus. Come, Henry, drink your potions, we need to get going, you do not want to be late to your first lesson on Ancient Runes this afternoon."

Taking the first of the row of small vials, Henry made a grimace at the taste after swallowing the potions.

They left the study, Severus to stay the rest of the day at Malfoy Manor, Marvolo and Henry to go to Diagon Alley.

oooOOooo

As Lucius came into his study, shortly after a long and nice breakfast, he found his friend sitting on the love-seat in front of the fireplace, clutching his hands together and staring at the cold hearth.

Determined to lighten the mood, he sat down on a chair next to the love-seat and said in a teasing tone, "Narcissa is delighted by the prospect of helping you find a bride. She is currently in matchmaker heaven."

Lucius was taken aback, when Severus' only response to the teasing was a tired glance from under his curtain of black silky hair. Sighing, he let the teasing rest and searched for words to get his friend to share what troubled him so. "What troubles you so, Severus? Don't carry all your worries alone. You do remember that we are friends, don't you?" Lucius started to worry as the dark-haired wizard let his head sink into his hands at this. What was the problem? Was Severus in danger from their Lord because of the situation with Dumbledore?

Luckily Severus was not inclined to let him suffer too long, not knowing what was going on. Even though the blond man did not understand where he was going at first. "Do you know why I was selected to spy on Dumbledore all those years ago?"

"Because you are an excellent potioneer and there was a spot open for the Potions Professor on Hogwarts staff?" Lucius offered.

"Partially," Severus agreed. "But the real reason was, that my Occlumency skills are so good, I can keep the Headmaster out of my head and even lie to him without being suspected."

Severus fell silent again, until Lucius got impatient and prompted, "Well?"

"This is also the reason why Dumbledore believes me to be his spy in the Dark Lord's ranks."

The Potions Master fell silent again, and Lucius tried to untangle the hints dropped by his friend. "You're trying to tell me that Dumbledore believes that you're able to lie to our Lord?"

Nodding in agreement, Severus elaborated, "He not only believes, but knows. I am able to lie to both of them." Leaning forward, resting his arms on his knees, he let his hair fall to cover his face, staring at the hand-woven carpet under his feet.

Understanding dawned for Lucius. If his friend was able to lie to their Lord, the man could not be certain that Severus was still loyal to him. That was certainly a reason to be so gloomy. "Is there a way…" Lucius trailed off, unsure how to even ask what was on his mind. He had suspected for a while now that Severus had come to waver in his loyalty at the end of the last war. And how could he fault him, as it was obvious that their Lord had lost some of his sanity by then? But speaking out loud of such things was just not done.

Severus took the more acceptable meaning and answered another unasked question. "There is a potion that forces an Occlumence to lower all protections." The dark-haired man shuddered.

Taking that as confirmation that his friend was still loyal and willing to prove it, Lucius simply asked, "When?"

"Tonight after dinner." Severus leant back and let his head sink onto the back of the love-seat, closing his eyes. It was obvious that his friend was distressed about this, but not really why he was so worked up. Hoping that it was only because Severus did not like anyone knowing much about him, and not his desire to hide something crucial from their Lord, Lucius decided it was time to distract his friend and bring another worrisome topic forward. "Let us get your mind on something else." Severus looked up, raising a brow questioningly. "Narcissa is waiting in the family parlour, she wants to plan some social events."

Severus groaned, a matchmaking Narcissa had been his nightmare a few years ago.

"Now, now, my friend. You heard the orders as well as I did. Do you want to find your own bride, or do you want our Lord to select for you?"

Standing, Severus answered with a poor attempt at humour, "After tonight he might be the person most suited to pick for me."

Laughing, Lucius led his friend from the study and over to the parlour. Best to keep him occupied with other things until the evening than letting him wallow in misery.

oooOOooo

After a short visit to the optician, Harry walked alongside Voldemort down Diagon Alley towards Gringotts.

Harry liked his new glasses and had been pleasantly surprised when Voldemort did not insist on one particular style, or restricted the amount of money to be spent. So the young wizard had been able to browse the available selection at his leisure and select the glasses that appealed to him. He still was not sure if he wanted to take the potion to correct his eyesight. It would be neat not to need glasses, but the fact that the potion was considered dark irked him.

As they passed the shops on both sides of the alley, Harry was aware that they were being stared at. Witches and Wizards came to the windows of the shops, stopped in the middle of the street, even turned to walk past them a second time, to stare at them and whisper about them with those next to them.

They were also followed by two wizards that Harry had last seen that night in the graveyard. Mr. Goyle and Mr. Crabbe had met them at the entrance to Diagon Alley, to be their lookouts and guards. Voldemort had insisted, and Harry had not dared to make much of a fuss. They both had been polite enough, and after two tries by enraged wizards to come near them, shouting something about necromancers and evil reincarnate, Harry was glad the two wizards had their backs. If he had to walk beside Voldemort through Diagon Alley, he'd best have someone there who was willing to protect him. He felt strange thinking this, but that made it not any less true.

Ascending the stairs leading up to the entrance of the bank, Harry wondered what this appointment would bring to light. Voldemort had said that they had to be related in some way, as there was no way anyone outside of the Slytherin family could be a parselmouth. Of course Harry had disagreed. He remembered well the day Dumbledore had told him that the night Voldemort had tried to kill him as a baby, some of the dark wizard's power had been transferred to the toddler. The teen had not told this to the man, not sure if it would be something the Headmaster would want their enemy to know.

But thinking about their appointment brought a question back into Harry's mind that he had forgotten about as he saw the wizards waiting for them an hour earlier. "Why do we have to go to the goblins to get this ancestry test done, sir?"

"During one of the earlier goblin wars, around 845 I think, a peace treaty was made." They stepped into the enormous hall and got in line at one of the counters. "At that time the goblins fought to not be hunted by wizardkind to be used as potions ingredients. Some part of them is used in the potion needed to perform the most effective ancestry test. We know some others, to test for paternity, and who the grandparents were, but to get a whole family tree, this potion is needed." Harry was amazed at how easily Voldemort fell into lecture mode and tried not to look too excited at getting something explained without being scolded for not knowing it before or even for asking. "To get peace once again, the wizards of that time agreed to hand over all knowledge of this potion, or destroy it, in exchange for a promise from the goblins that they would offer to perform this test for wizards. For a fee, of course." Harry nodded to confirm that he understood, and the other wizard added a bit more explanation. "This is believed to be the start of this bank, and one of the reasons why goblins are almost always involved in marriage contracts, wills, and other matters where family connections are important."

As it was now their turn at the counter, they stepped forward, and with a curt nod to the goblin behind the counter, Voldemort stated their intentions. "I am here to get an ancestry test for my adopted son," here he pointed at Harry standing by his side, "formerly known by the name of Harry James Potter."

With much too much teeth shown – was this a grin or a snarl? – the goblin gave a tiny bell a shake, and another goblin came from somewhere in the back. "Follow Grookfangs, he will conduct the test."

They did as told and were led into a small office with a nice marble floor, expensive mahogany furniture, and some lethal-looking weapons and martial wall hangings, depicting battle scenes, as decoration. Sitting down, Harry watched with a foreboding feeling as the goblin got an oddly off-colour parchment and an ornate silver dagger out of a small cabinet standing at the far wall.

Laying both items on the desk in front of the teenager, the goblin smiled/sneered again. "You will have to prick a finger or make a cut on your palm and let at least three, better seven, drops of blood fall onto the parchment. Nothing simpler."

Harry was fairly sure that "even a wizard should be able to do it" was added, even if not spoken out loud. So he took up the dagger, quite heavy for such a small weapon, and turned his left hand so the palm was facing up, gathering his courage.

Moving the blade over his palm with almost no pressure – goblin made weapons were sharp – Harry made a shallow cut, tilting his hand so that the blood could fall onto the parchment. Almost the moment the first drop hit, splattering small droplets in all directions, writing began surfacing out of the parchment. It started with his name, as it was now, Henry James Slytherin-Potter, followed by the names of his father and mother. The names of his father's parents were easily to read, Charlus and Dorea Potter, with Dorea born a Black, but the names of Lily's parents were only blurs. From there the tree branched out, getting more and more branches. Only the parents of a person were shown, no siblings, so this was not a full family tree, only the direct ancestors of Harry. He got to see that the Potters had married into a lot of other families, and he was related to most of his classmates in one way or another.

It got really interesting once the names on the Evans side of his ancestry started to be readable. There was an Alana Gaunt who married a Lionel Evans some five generations back. Her name was barely legible, as was her husband's. His parents were only nameless blobs, but four generations before that there was a Malfoy who had married a nameless blob.

Harry was mesmerized by the gentle growing of his family tree. He did not pay attention to his surroundings, almost not registering that Voldemort gently took his hand and cast a small healing charm on the cut, closing it. Following the tree up from the names on his mother's side it became obvious that names started to appear on both sides, but the Gaunts were only present on his mother's side. From "Gaunt" the name changed to "Selvyn" and then to "Slytherin". As it reached ancestors who had no last names, the growing stopped, and the parchment was now several times larger than at the start of the process.

Harry was still too much in awe to react as Voldemort tapped on the tree, right at the parents of Alana Gaunt. "These are on my tree too. It seems we have found the connection. That is curious indeed," Voldemort murmured, tracing the tree with his right index finger.

Harry could only agree. It seemed that his mother was not truly a muggle-born witch with no wizarding ancestors, but a witch descending from a really old family. Still in a daze and truly confused, Harry was led from the bank and back to the point they would apparate from.

There was no denying it any more. He was related to Voldemort. The man who had killed his parents really was family. He had problems wrapping his mind around this new shocking information.

Walking beside his adopted son, Voldemort was equally stunned and silent.

oooOOooo

AN: Hope you liked it, I have so much fun writing this! In the next hours (maybe days) I will edit the other chapters to remove some typos and change the way I have written some names (mostly where I use capital letters) to a way I like more.

If you find errors, wonky sentences or other things along this line, please tell!

Thanks to Jordre and Jake for helping to improve my spelling!

First published: 27th of November 2015

Last edited: 26th of April 2017