Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
Warnings: This story has Slash. Violence and torture too.
$Ouroboros.$ parseltongue
$Ouroboros.$ spell cast in parseltongue
Chapter 21 – With a bang
Harry was a little surprised when he went down to dinner and saw Sirius sitting at the table looking as if someone had killed his puppy. Usually he wouldn't have paid all that much attention to it, his godfather was slightly over-dramatic on occasion, however seeing Remus looking quite similar was a bit strange.
"Is something wrong?" he asked after he sat down.
Sirius and Remus shared a look, both looking resigned and a little scared, that more than anything picked Harry's interest. There were very few things that scared both men.
"We just came from a meeting with Dumbledore." Remus told him, "He had some concerning news to give us."
"What is it?" not even trying to hide his curiosity.
"Voldemort's back." Sirius told him grimly.
"What?" he was gaping, he was sure of it, but he couldn't stop it. How did the old man know? He had suspected that the meetings that Dumbledore had been having with Sirius and Remus were somehow related with Tom, but how could Dumbledore be sure of it?
"Dumbledore has suspected for a while now, however he got confirmation a few hours ago." Remus explained. Well that settled it than, someone had talked.
"Alright." Harry said, doing his best to appear rather unconcerned, though he was itching to torture someone. He wasn't all that happy with the confirmation that they had been betrayed.
"There's more," Sirius added, looking almost fearful, "Dumbledore asked if we could use Grimmauld as Headquarters. My family was paranoid so this thing is more protected than Gringotts, so it would make a perfect Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. I agreed. I know we talked about which side to pick, I know that you aren't really light, but I don't want to burn all our bridges. If Voldemort wants to kill you, you'll need all the help you can get." Sirius tried to explain his reasoning, but Harry wasn't really paying any attention to it. He couldn't get over the fact that he would be living in the enemy's Headquarters.
He tried, he really did, but he couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled from his mouth. This, this was just too perfect. He was laughing so hard that his sides were starting to hurt and when he looked up and saw Sirius and Remus looking at him as if he had gone round the bent he just laugh harder.
He was sure that Tom would be just as delighted with this outcome.
He brought himself under control and smiled at both Marauders.
"We need to have a conversation," he told them, smile plastered on his face, "Some things happened over the last... well, months actually, that you need to know. The Ouroboros are stepping on stage and you'll be doing your part."
Both men looked at him, slightly apprehensive. Harry didn't really blame them, it was one thing to suspect that he wasn't quite the normal fourteen year old, it was another thing to know it. But they had chosen to follow him and he couldn't keep them in the dark, well, metaphorically speaking of course.
"As of the day of the third task, I took my place as a Dark Lord." he told them bluntly. It was better that way, there was no need to beat around the bush, it had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to see their gob-smack looks, no, nothing at all... even if they were rather amusing, "Later that day," he continued before they could get over their shock, "While I was missing, I was having a meeting with the Dark Lord Voldemort." he was completely ignoring the fact that he had been kidnapped, it sounded far more impressive if he said he had been in a meeting. A meeting implied that the people involved had gone voluntarily, "We agreed on a partnership, since we have similar goals for the Wizarding World."
Silence filled the room for several moments. Harry reclined on his seat, sipping his orange juice as if he had no care in the world. He knew that Sirius and Remus would need a little time to process what he had just told them.
"You... you met Voldemort?" Sirius asked him, his voice trembling a little.
Harry nodded, opting not to point out that Sirius had met Voldemort as well. It wouldn't do to overstress both his guardians.
"What kind of partnership did you agreed to?" Remus asked, looking a little more calm than Sirius, though Harry knew it was just a front. There was amber bleeding into Remus' eyes showing just how agitated the werwolf was.
"It's quite simple really. We are both Dark Lords, we work together to achieve our goal. If we don't agree with something the other wants to do then we will talk about it. He has his followers and I have mine. The Death Eaters and the Ouroboros are two different organizations. They have different functions, however my Ouroboros will participate in raids as well. He has the last word when it comes to his followers and I have the last word when it comes to mine, however they obey both of us equally. That's about it, really." he shrugged, "So as you can see, living in the Order's Headquarters will be quite useful." the grin that appeared on his lips was nothing short of malicious and Sirius and Remus shuddered, "I doubt I will be allowed to attend meetings, however both of you will, I'm sure Dumbledore thinks you are both on his side, that would make you Order members in his books. So you'll pass the information to me. Both of you, as well as Neville and the Weasley twins, are Ouroboros belonging to the Sleepers division. For a lack of a better term, you are spies."
"Are... the Ouroboros, are they marked?" Remus asked him. Harry nodded, his eyes never leaving them.
"So... why aren't we?" Sirius asked, he looked a little out of it still. Harry had expected his reaction to be a little more explosive so he was pleasantly surprised.
"Because this is your last chance. The others... they knew what they were getting into, hell they were hoping for it. But both of you... You have always sided with the light, you always sided with Dumbledore. So I'm giving you one last chance, the only one you'll have, to back out. If you side with me and I mark you... there will be no turning back, and, no matter how much it may hurt me, I'll kill you if you betray me."
They fell silent again and Harry let them think everything over. He was glad to see that they were truly thinking it over and not just siding with him because he was James' son. He knew it was hard for them, they were practically siding with the man who had killed their best friends, their family, so he gave them the time they needed.
"With you on his side... Dumbledore won't really stand a chance, will he?" Sirius muttered, "Not that he isn't a powerful wizard, he is, but well... so is Voldemort. And now he has you. Even if Dumbledore managed to kill Voldemort, the Dark wouldn't lose because there would be you to keep up the fight."
"True..." Remus mused, "We are Marauders, we don't lose."
"No, we don't." Sirius agreed.
"Besides, from what I've seen of Harry, his policies aren't that bad, certainly better than what we have now."
Sirius nodded and both of them looked at Harry. It was hard to grasp that sitting in front of them was a Dark Lord. He was so young, he looked so innocent. He was their cub. How could he be a Dark Lord? But then they remembered everything else they knew about him and couldn't deny it any longer. They had always suspected, always known, that it was only a matter of time. It just so happened that it came to be sooner than what they anticipated.
"We side with you." Sirius told him, "There never really was any doubt about it."
Harry smiled at them, truly happy that they had remained true to their word. He got up from his seat and took out his wand. He vanished their sleeves and focused on his mark.
$Ouroboros.$ he spoke in parseltongue. It was easier for him to direct his magic when he was speaking in parseltongue. He suspected that it was because the mark was a snake. Besides, he had an easier time creating spells in parseltongue and since he needed to create his own spell to mark his followers he had oped to do it in parseltongue. He had to wonder if Tom knew it would come to this, if that had been the reason why Tom had given him books on spellcrafting. Aside from that it was a security measure, no one aside from another parseltongue could alter, use, or in any other way influence the mark.
Sirius hissed in pain, grabbing his shoulder. When the pain passed he glanced at his shoulder, there, in all it's dark glory, was the mark of a Dark Lord. His Dark Lord.
Harry studied the mark and was quite pleased with the outcome, it looked just like the ones from his Court, however the lines that made the ouroboros were just that, lines. The pledge was missing. Just as it should be. His Court was different, would always be different, as such their marks were different as well. However the new marks would be just as tied to his magic, they would work the same way as the ones his Court had.
He aimed his wand at Remus and spoke the incantation again, feeling his magic answering his call.
Remus too grabbed his shoulder when the pain hit. And he studied his own mark with as much scrutiny as Sirius had studied his.
Remus looked at Sirius and their eyes locked. They were marked followers of a Dark Lord, there was no going back. Remus wasn't sure if the completely lack of remorse he knew they both felt was a good thing or a bad one.
The floo flared green though Lucius barely looked at it. He was busy drowning in another glass of firewhisky.
"That won't solve anything." came the soft voice of Teodred and Lucius finally looked up.
The other wizard had taken a seat at the desk, studying the bottle that was on it in front of him.
"You look as if you wouldn't mind doing the same." Lucius replied, after having a good look at the older man. Teodred looked old, tired. The last time he had seen the man like that had been after his son had been sentenced to Azkaban for life.
"I wouldn't," Teodred confirmed, "Though I know from experience that it won't solve anything."
Lucius sighed and put the glass down, knowing that Teodred was right. However he hadn't truly cared. He couldn't get the meeting out of his mind, even hours after they had been dismissed.
He had gotten home to find his son in the library readying a book, curled up on a sofa. He had wanted so badly to confront him, to ask him if he had been there. But in the end hadn't done it. He wasn't sure if he had been more afraid of a positive or negative reply from his son, but either way he had been far to cowardly to find out.
"I wasn't expecting for him to take his place so soon." Teodred said after a few minutes, still staring at the bottle.
"You knew what he would become?"
"You can't tell me you never suspected." Teodred scoffed, "The boy lived with you during the summer for a little bit, you never saw anything that made you think: he'll be a Dark Lord?" Lucius remained silent and Teodred nodded, "See? It was obvious, you just had to know what to look for. I just wasn't expecting for him to do it while still in school, never mind the fact that he's not even fifteen."
"Do you remember that interview he gave? Right at the start from the tournament? Where he said that he wouldn't represent Hogwarts but a group of students?"
Teodred snorted and shook his head.
"I don't think he could have made it more clear that he had followers, how didn't we see it?"
"Because we were as blind as everyone else," Lucius replied, "I went to school with the Marauders. When I read that interview that's what I thought of, not of a statement from a rising Dark Lord, but as a way for an orphan to be closer to his father." Lucius shook his head, "No matter how people portrait us, we are still human, sometimes our emotions get the better of us and we become just as fallible as everyone else."
"And the new Lord knows just how to use that." Teodred sighed, "Both Draco and Theodore follow him." he saw Lucius wince but continued, "I know what it's like to be charmed by a Dark Lord, I remember how our Lord was before he submerged himself into his Dark Lord persona. Even before that there was always a gap between us, we always knew he never cared for us in the same way we cared for him; to be honest must of us believed he wasn't capable of it. I've seen how the Court interact with their King, I've seen how the Ouroboros respond to their Lord, it's... it's different from what we had. Their bond seems so much deeper."
"Shouldn't that be a good thing?" Lucius asked, not really knowing what Teodred was trying to tell him.
"Lucius, you told me that you believed that your son would kill you if his Lord asked it of him, do you still believe that?" Teodred asked instead of replying.
Slowly Lucius nodded, his eyes showing his heartache for just a moment.
"I believe it too now." Teodred told him solemnly, "I don't think there's anything those Ouroboros wouldn't do for their Lord. It is a commendable trait, but... I already lost my son to a Dark Lord, I don't know if I can survive losing my grandson too." he confessed.
Lucius looked away from the shattered eyes of the man that he considered a second father. He didn't know how Teodred felt, though he could imagine. Just thinking about losing Draco broke his heart.
"We won't lose them." he didn't know who he was trying to comfort, he supposed that it was as much for Teodred as it was for him.
"Won't we?" Teodred sighed, "You saw them at the meeting, we already lost them."
A few days later Harry was almost bouncing of the walls. He was excited, more than excited, but he knew he had to get himself under control before the Order arrived. Though thinking about that only made him more giddy. He hadn't told Tom yet, he wanted to surprise him. Besides he wanted to make sure that Order members would actually be staying at Headquarters. Sirius had said something about a few of them needing to stay at Headquarters because their own homes weren't sufficiently warded. Truthfully Harry thought that it was a pretty crappy reason, and in any other situation he would have been more than angry about complete strangers invading his home, however this one time he could live with it.
He sat beside Remus in the library and glanced at the alpha wolf.
"Is everything ready?"
"Yes," Remus replied, "Dumbledore will be coming first to cast the Fidelius, then the Order will start to arrive. Sirius and I believe that Dumbledore will want to introduce you to most of the members, if not all of them. I don't know how many new members we will have since I don't know how Dumbledore is dealing with the recruiting. There is no one that claimed that Voldemort was back and there has been nothing saying that he is back, so I don't really know what he will tell people."
"Yes, about that... how does he know that Tom is back?"
"T-T-Tom?" Remus spluttered.
"Yes, Tom." Harry raised an eyebrow, "You didn't expect me to call him Voldemort, did you? Well... if we had a purely professional relationship I suppose I would call him that, or Lord Voldemort. However since we are... friends, I call him Tom and he calls me Harry. Though he does call me little King or little serpent on occasion."
"Friends?" Remus couldn't look more stunned if he tried, "You consider Voldemort a friend?"
"Yes," more than a friend actually. Harry didn't really know how to classify his relationship with Tom, friendship seemed far too mild for what they had. However for a lack of a better term it would have to suffice, "I have known him for a long time. The first time I actually talked to him was when I was eleven. Things evolved from there, I suppose. We got close so I am allowed to call him Tom, such as he is allowed to call me Harry. To my Ouroboros he is Lord Voldemort, just as I am Lord Thanatos to his Death Eaters."
"How did we never notice anything?" Remus muttered more to himself than to Harry, looking at Harry as if he was seeing him for the first time.
"You did notice." Harry said, "You can't tell me you never noticed how I treated my Court or how my Court treated me. You can't tell me you never suspected just what path I was taking. Nor can you tell me that you didn't see that I didn't hate Tom at all."
"I guess you're right." Remus said after a few moments of silence, "We knew it was coming. We just liked to believe that it would take a few years to actually be confronted with it."
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting it o happen quite so soon either." Harry muttered, "Though my Court was more than happy when they realized I had become a Dark Lord. I think they were even more excited than I was."
"They are extremely loyal to you." Remus remarked, "That was actually one of the first things I thought when I met you all, I couldn't help but compare them to the Death Eaters. They seem so dedicated to you... it's somewhat intimidating."
Harry chuckled and a mischievous smirk appeared on his lips.
"The Death Eaters sure thought that as well." he laughed when Remus spluttered, looking at him somewhat gobsmacked.
"You met the Death Eaters?"
"Yes, we had a meeting. Tom had to introduce his new ally to the Death Eaters, and I couldn't let my Ouroboros come out as weak. We knew that we couldn't take them in a fair fight. We may be good, but they have years of experience that we lack. So we had to do something that would make an impression."
"I'm not sure I want to know." Remus mumbled and Harry laughed again. Just then Harry felt the wards around them flare, judging from Remus tense shoulders he had felt it as well.
"Dumbledore?" Harry asked, and Remus nodded, "I guess that's why I can't seem to remember where exactly we are."
"Yes, the Fidelius went up." Remus told him, "Sirius should be coming up with the Secret."
Not a minute later and Sirius was bouncing through the door. He handed them a piece of parchment. He read it and just like that he knew where he was. He had to admit that the Fidelius was a rather impressive bit of magic. He couldn't help but wonder if they could alter it a little. He had to run it by Tom, if there was anyone who would know it would be him.
"Dumbledore went to get the Order members." Sirius informed them, "He told me that he wanted all of us to be down in the kitchen, to introduce everyone." Sirius rolled his eyes. Harry snorted and got up from his seat.
"Well, let's go meet our enemies."
Harry was sitting in the kitchen when the fireplace at the far end came to life, it's flames flaring green, signaling that the floo connection was opening.
Harry glanced up, curious to see who would be joining him and who the Order members were.
So it was quite understandable that he gaped in surprise for a moment or two when he saw a shock of red hair. Not just any red hair, but Weasley-red hair. He got his expressions under control just in time though, as the man, who he assumed was Weasley Senior, glanced at him and smiled. He was followed by another red-head, from the descriptions that he had gotten from the twins he would guess that it was their oldest brother, Bill if he wasn't mistaken. He was followed by Weasley, then by the Weasley girl, then by their mother, and finally his demons.
Their eyes immediately landed on him and a brief smirk spread on their lips. An answering smirk appeared on his lips as well, however before anything could be said or done the fireplace flared again and more people started coming through.
Harry quickly lost count of who was coming through since the amount of people in front of the fireplace made it rather difficult for him to see. However he was sure that there had been one or two that he had recognized, even if he couldn't really place them since he had only gotten a glimpse.
The last to come through was Dumbledore and Harry only recognized him amidst the number of people that were mingling in front of the fireplace because no one else had that long of a beard.
There was a little shuffling around though they finally ended up taking seats around the kitchen table. Dumbledore took the place at the head of the table and smiled at them all.
"Well, now that we are all together, I would like to thank Sirius for allowing us to use his home as the Headquarters for the Order. Since some of you will be living here for the foreseeable future I believe it is a good idea to introduce everyone. Even if most of us already know each other." there were nods all around and Harry almost sneered, these were the people that were supposed to be fighting Tom? They were all so... well, he didn't really know how to describe them but he wasn't impressed. Things had been far more simple with Tom. He had called his Death Eaters, informed them of the changes and that was that. There was no get together as if they were one big happy family, "Very well," Dumbledore clapped his hands looking beyond happy with the outcome, "As you all know I'm Albus Dumbledore. Now, if we could go in order..." and so the introductions began.
Harry did his best to remember every face; Hestia Jones, Sturgis Podmore, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Molly Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Emmiline Vance, Mungungus Fletcher, and Minerva McGonagall.
He couldn't quite hide his smirk when the twins introduced themselves. Five hidden snakes in the Order, it was just too much. He had to really control himself to stop himself from outright laughing. Sure he would have to share his living space with complete strangers, not to mention the annoying little Weasley, but it was so worth it. He wondered how they would react if they knew they had a Dark Lord in their midst.
When introductions were done Dumbledore beamed at them all.
"Good, good. Since most of you will be staying here most of the time I do hope we can all get along." his eyes landed briefly on him and Weasley and he almost groaned. He had hoped that Dumbledore hadn't noticed just how much he despised the youngest male Weasley, apparently he hadn't been so lucky, "Now-" the fireplace flared green again, cutting Dumbledore off and Harry glanced at it curiously, only to stare when the tall figure stepped out of the fireplace, "Ah, our last addition, Severus, welcome."
Snape sneered at everyone until his eyes landed on Harry. They widened just a smidgen and then his expression went blank. Harry on the other had was quite pleased that everyone was looking at Snape, so no one noticed the truly malicious smirk that spread on his lips. Well, well, well, the day was getting more and more interesting.
As it turned out the Weasleys would be the only ones that would be living at Grimmauld, everyone else would just stay in one of the guest rooms when they needed to. Though from what he understood these were the core members of the Order and the ones that he would be seeing most.
As soon as that was out of the way the children were ushered out of the kitchen and told to behave while the adults were in the meeting.
Harry went without a fuss, knowing that he could get all the information that he needed from Sirius and Remus. The twins followed his example, muttering about pranks making most of the adults tune them out. The other younger Gryffindors fought all the way out of the kitchen, all the while saying that they wanted to be involved, that they could help.
Harry snorted and shook his head. He couldn't see how any of them could be in any way useful. Still, it had nothing to do with him so he took refuge in his room. He sent a slight pulse of magic to his demons' marks, telling them to join him as soon as they could do it without anyone noticing.
Not five minutes later the door to his room opened and he twins slipped inside. They grinned at him and sprawled themselves on his bed, one on either side of him.
They were silent for a few moments, just enjoying being together, until Fred chuckled, a wicked smile spreading on his lips.
"I don't think we could have infiltrated the Order as successfully if we had planned it." he remarked, making the other two laugh.
"True," George agreed, "Though I do wonder what Snape is doing here."
"Well, there are only three options." Harry said, "He's a spy, he's a double agent, or he betrayed Tom."
"Which one do you think it is?" Fred asked. Both twins looked particularly serious, they, just like he, couldn't stand the thought of betrayal. Just thinking that there could be traitor in the ranks made their blood boil. It didn't help that it was Snape, someone that they despised with everything they were.
He was quite happy that he had placed the wards tuned to Tom's mark around the meeting room. Who knew what Dumbledore could have known by now if he hadn't? It was a tricky bit of spell-work, just as the wards around their little training room at Hogwarts. Though instead of being tied to everyone they were only tied to him. It was a shame that he couldn't monitor who said what. It just stopped anyone from saying anything about him and his followers. They couldn't even think about ways to reveal anything to anyone. Of course it wouldn't affect people who already knew, for instance two Death Eaters could talk with one another about them, he was even hoping they did to be honest, but if anyone present didn't have Tom's mark then they wouldn't be able to say anything at all. Of course it had loopholes, just like all magic, but it would take a while for someone to find them since they would have to actively search for them and only a traitor would do it.
"Honestly... I have no idea. With the way he paled I would say that he was a traitor, though he could have paled just because he wasn't expecting to see me there. Both of you should keep an eye on him, he doesn't know you are part of my Ouroboros. I'll tell Sirius and Remus the same thing. Though I think that it will be easier for you since the animosity between the Marauders and Snape is practically legendary. It's far more likely for him to be one his guard when they are around."
"So they are in?" Fred couldn't quite hide his excitement.
"Yes, I marked them. They are mine now, Sleepers, just like you."
"We should try to recruit more, see who doesn't follow Dumbledore around as if he were the next Merlin." George suggested.
"What about your brother?"
"Bill?" Fred frowned, "We don't know. He never gave any indication that he was anything but light..."
"Then again, neither did we..." George remarked, "We could always try, Bill was always quite open with us. We could ask his opinion about several things, just bring it up in casual conversation."
"And I could always talk with him." Harry murmured, "You think he'll want to talk with me?"
"I don't see why not," Fred said, "Bill is a bit of a nerd, even if he doesn't look like it, so you'll just have to find a topic that catches his attention."
"So, anything involving runes, or any type of archaic magic. Parseltongue is something that he always found interesting, even with all the stigma attached to it." George elaborated.
"I'll see what comes up. I can always use it to avoid your more annoying siblings." he grumbled, "Really, what is Granger doing here? I never knew she was friends with your brother."
"We don't really know," George told him, "One day she just started hanging around him."
"I think it was more Ginny's doing." Fred mused, "She started spending time with him around Ginny's second year, from what we heard she was helping Ginny with charms."
"I haven't seen her around anyone else," George added, "She doesn't have that many friends."
"Does that really surprise you?" Fred asked, "She alienated almost everyone when she started badmouthing Harry for doing better than her in all subjects. Even if the Gryffindors didn't like Harry they didn't like how she went on and on about him not being able to do better than her without cheating. She never outright said it but it was clear that she considered herself better than everyone else. The Gryffindors may be a little dense sometimes but even they would pick up on something like that. It didn't endear her to anyone."
"Yeah, Thomas even defended you. Quite fiercely actually."
"Really?" he had never noticed the Gryffindor paying him more attention than any of the other students.
"Yeah," George nodded, "Neville has been keeping an eye on him. Now that you are a Dark Lord we think he is one of the ones we should work on. He would make a good follower."
"We'll see. I'll have the others scouting people in their houses as well." Harry said, "I think we should use our little slave. It's about time that she did something useful."
Both twins chuckled darkly, a bloodthirsty grin stretching their lips.
"That day is still one of the best we ever had." Fred exclaimed, his eyes shinning brightly, "We had so much fun."
Harry grinned fondly, his hand stroking Fred's fiery hair.
"We'll have many more days like that ahead of us." it was a promise, one he couldn't wait to fulfill.
Harry groaned when the mirror he had gotten from Tom started to heat up. Not that he wasn't happy to talk to Tom, he would just like it better if it weren't close to three in the morning, especially since he had only went to sleep a little over two hours ago.
Dear Merlin who would have thought that his demons had been downplaying just how much of a harpy their mother could be. He realized that the woman meant no harm by it, but who was she to decide that he should share a room with Weasley just because they were the same age? It had taken a good three hours to make her shut up about it and she only did when Shacklebolt pointed out that it was Sirius' home and that there were more than enough rooms for everyone to have an individual room. It seemed even she was a little intimidated by the tall, dark, auror to push the matter further. He could guess just how relieved he had locked if the small smirk that had briefly appeared on the man was any indication.
"What?" he grumbled, shooting a sleepy glare, that was far more adorable than what he had intended, at Tom.
"Were you sleeping?" came the mocking inquire. His glare heated up a little and Tom chuckled.
"No, of course not." he replied sarcastically, "I enjoy spending my nights up till the early morning. Who needs sleep?" Tom smirked at him and he grumbled a little more, "What is it?" he ended up asking when he felt a little more awake, "I'm sure you didn't call me just to see if I was sleeping."
"I believe it's time." Tom replied, looking serious.
Harry sat straight up, eyes wide and an excited gleam appearing in them.
"Really?" he couldn't quite mask his enthusiasm.
"Yes," Tom replied, he looked as excited as he felt, "Get ready, join me and we'll go one last time over the plan, then we'll call our followers."
"Alright," Harry nodded, getting out of bed, "Give me a few minutes." he dropped the mirror on the bed and raced towards the bathroom. The bubbling anticipation he felt coursing through his veins was making him feel a little jittery. He could hardly believe that they were finally going on the offensive. They would step out of the shadows and the world would tremble in their wake.
Tom was waiting for him in the study, he was lounging on the same armchair by the fireplace. He looked somewhat lost in thought, so Harry sat in the armchair opposite his and waited for Tom to notice him.
He glanced around and saw a few papers spread on the desk, and what looked like blueprints of a building on the wall behind it. He would assume that those were the blueprints of Azkaban, since those were the only plans that Tom was working on. Well, not the only ones, Tom had always so much on his mind, but the only ones that were ready to be acted upon.
"Harry," Tom's deep voice caught his attention and he smiled at the older man, "That was rather quick, I assume you had no trouble with leaving?"
"No trouble at all, everyone was already asleep."
"Everyone?" there really was nothing that escaped the man's notice. Harry chuckled, the mischievous grin that he was sprouting making Tom just a smidgen nervous.
"Yes, everyone..." Harry's grin grew bigger, "I had such an interesting day. You wouldn't guess just what I found out," Harry did his best to look as if he had gotten his hands on the juiciest gossip, "Why, I've been told that the big, bad Dark Lord Voldemort was back. And my godfather, worried about me, agreed to use our home as the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. I just had a lovely evening getting to know most of it's members."
Harry almost cackled. It wasn't every day you could reduce a Dark Lord to stunned silence.
"You live at the Order's Headquarters?" Tom asked, still looking quite stunned.
"Well, it's more the other way around. My home became their Headquarters, so tecnically they live with me. And my two demons are living there as well now, aside from that I marked Sirius and Remus as well; so the Order has four Ouroboros in their midst, five if you count me. I think it was a rather sucessful infiltration mission." Harry ended in a rather pompous tone and Tom snorted.
"Mission? It was handed to you on a silver platter. If I didn't know any better I would say you had a dose of Felix Felicis beforehand." Tom grumbled.
"Don't be a sore loser." Harry teased, "I'm sure that if you wanted you could have just as many spies in the Order. Hell, I'm sure that if you applied yourself you could even be induced into the Order." Harry was only partly joking, he had no doubt that if Tom wanted he could easily fool Dumbledore into letting him join the Order. Not as himself of course, but Tom was a good enough actor to pass as someone else, as he had already proven, "Speaking about the Order and spies, would you care to explain what Snape was doing there?"
"He's my spy. I had him spying on Dumbledore since the first war."
"How sure are you of his allegiance?"
"As sure as one can be of a spy." was Tom's dry remark, "I'm not all that happy that he revealed my return without informing me that he was going to do it, however there could have been certain circumstances that made it impossible for him not to reveal it."
"Such as?"
"He could have been with Dumbledore when I summoned him."
Harry hummed and leaned back on his seat. He had to concede the point, however that didn't mean he would trust the man.
"Even so, I'm rather happy to have cast those wards around the meeting room, who knows what he would have told Dumbledore otherwise."
"Yes... I noticed those wards." Tom remarked, "They were quite ingenious, how did you come up with them?"
"We have something similar around our training room at Hogwarts. We didn't want to chance anyone stumbling upon it at Hogwarts, in this case we didn't want anyone to talk about us, or to reveal us in anyway. The ward doesn't let them talk about us, and there is a small warning for those who try."
"Yes, I noticed." Tom murmured, there was that spark in his eyes that he always had when Harry did something that pleased him quite a bit. It was always mixed with a touch of lust and Harry had to admit that it caused a shiver to run down his spine. He truly should be commended for being able to resist the man for as long as he had.
"So, you woke me up for something..." he changed the subject, ignoring Tom's knowing smirk.
"Yes, it's time." Tom said firmly, "Especially now that Dumbledore knows for sure that I'm back, there is no time to lose. We can't let them up the security measures."
"Alright," Harry frowned slightly, "There are still two ways we could go about it, we have plans for both situations. How do you want to do it?"
"Well... with a bang, of course." Tom's smirk was positivelly sinful and Harry laughed. When their eyes met they could see them shining with excitement and their magic was dancing around them. Neither of them would let the world end with a whimper.
Harry glanced around the room, his eyes lingering for a moment longer on his Ouroboros, and waited for Tom to give the signal. It was time, their followers had been briefed and now they were about to turn the Wizarding World on it's head.
He caught Tom looking at him and he smiled, even though he knew that Tom wouldn't be able to see anything through his mask, that was one of the reasons why he allowed himself to truly smile.
Tom looked towards their followers again and took a step forward. Everyone stood at attention.
"Get ready, we'll be leaving in two minutes." Tom instructed and they hastened to comply.
They divided themselves into teams, seven teams with seven Death Eaters and two Ouroboros each. Harry had only called his Court and Tom had called all of his Inner Circle members, sans Snape after much insistence from Harry, and several Outer Circle members. They had opted to divide the Ouroboros up, so that they could gain experience in fighting beside someone else. Though Harry argued that it would be better to keep at least two together so that they had someone with them that they trusted. Tom agreed, knowing that they were a rather tight group and saw no reason to make them face their first time in battle beside complete strangers.
Harry and Tom would be staying together, they would be dealing with the aurors mostly. Harry suspected that Tom wanted to see how he would fare in a fight. He had nothing against that, since he wanted the same thing. He was curious to see just how well he would hold up against fully trained wizards.
"It's time." Tom announced and the teams started portkeying out. Tom took his hand and apparated them, since Harry had no idea where they would be going.
They landed on the shores of Azkaban and even though it was rather chilly, there wasn't that helpless feeling that usually saturated an area when dementors were around. Harry looked around and saw dozens of Patronus in the area.
He saw the twins' foxes jumping around, Draco's eagle flying almost on the opposite side he was on, Marcus' King cobra was slithering near his feet, Theo's German Shepard inching closer and closer towards him. He couldn't help but chuckle. It was always so interesting to see his Court's Patronus, especially because the Patronus acted on the emotions of their casters. It was a spell based on emotions. It was almost sentient, not enough to have a will of it's own of course, but it was highly tied to the caster which made it respond to it's caster's emotions and often times it acted upon them.
His Court's Patronus more often than not were around him, either snuggling up to him or being all protective. It was rather adorable, though he would never, even under torture, say those words out loud.
"Get ready," Tom whispered to him, "They have a squadron stationed here, and as soon as the wards come down the alarm will go off at the Ministry. Reinforcements will arrive then, though they only have one squadron doing the night shift, so it will take a little while for more than two squadrons to be present."
"I'm ready." Harry stated, his voice didn't even shake, though he was a little nervous. Not the bad kind of nervous, no, it was more of a jittery feeling. He could hardly wait.
"Morsmordre." Tom shouted, and his Dark Mark rose up into the sky, giving everything an eery green glow. Not a second later an alarm went off and aurors stormed through the gates.
Harry didn't even try to stop his cackle when the aurors froze in their places as soon as they came face to face with the Death Eaters. Tom's dark laughter joined his and the Death Eaters and Ouroboros made way for them. They walked towards the still gaping aurors and Harry saw that more than one of them was shaking.
"Aurors," Tom's deep voice washed over them and the aurors shuddered, "I am Lord Voldemort, and beside me is my partner, Lord Thanatos. All of you should rejoice, you will serve a glorious purpose. Your deaths will announce the beginning of a new age!" a few of the aurors, they looked rather young so Harry assumed that they must be new recruits, tried to take several steps back. Unfortunately those were the ones that caught his and Tom's attention and their wands came up before the rookies had done more than stumbled a step back.
"Avada Kedavra!" they intoned in unison. There was a flash of green light and two bodies hit the ground.
Fred and George didn't hesitate. As soon as the bodies hit the ground they were moving. They were part of a team that would engage the aurors in battle, and they did just that.
They were nervous, they didn't know what to expect, but they knew they couldn't falter. Their Lord was counting on them, and they wouldn't let him down. No matter what.
They put their training to use, they dodged, shielded and cursed. Spells flew left, right and center and soon neither twin was thinking. They were driven by instinct. It was life or death, and they had no intention of dying.
George couldn't say for how long he had been fighting, he couldn't even remember when he had lost sight of his twin. He just knew that one moment they had been fighting back to back and the next they weren't. Though he never truly lost track of where his brother was, even if he couldn't see him constantly. Sometimes he caught sight of him, their uniforms looking quite different from all the others around them, and was pleased to see that Fred was doing quite well.
A shield went up around him and he look back, surprised to see a Death Eater appearing beside him.
"How are you holding up?" the man asked in a gruff voice, George couldn't really place it.
George glanced at the bodies covering the ground, the blood on his uniform, the deadly magic saturating the air. How was he holding up? He laughed, a manic grin stretching his lips.
"Splendidly!" he exclaimed, not the least bit surprised to realize that he truly meant it.
The Death Eater laughed, cursing an auror in front of them. George watched fascinated as the man was turned inside out, he really wanted to know what curse the man had used.
"Well, that's something," the Death Eater remarked, "I have to say, you Ouroboros are alright."
George threw the man a smirk, even if the other wizard wasn't able to see it and nodded.
"You Death Eaters are not so bad either."
The Death Eater laughed again, just when new aurors started to appear.
"Reinforcements arrived," the older wizard muttered, "Ready?"
George gripped his wand tighter, and with one last glance at his brother he nodded.
"More than." he replied. Yes, he was more than ready.
Draco cursed when a diffindo clipped him on the shoulder. Thankfully their uniform took most of the impact, he would probably only bruise.
"You alright?" Wayne asked him, raising a shield in front of them.
"Yeah," Draco replied, sending a bombarda towards a group of aurors coming their way, "It's just..."
"Overwhelming?" Wayne asked, casting a cutting curse at an auror, who wasn't able to dodge completely and went down screaming and grabbing the stump that used to be his left arm.
"A bit." he looked around and seeing that they had a free path followed the Death Eaters into Azkaban, they were part of one of the retrieval teams and had to get the prisioners out.
"Do you regret it?" Wayne's voice was low, but Draco heard it loud and clear. There was worry there, though the threat in his voice was unmistakable. No matter how much Wayne may like him, he would not hesitate to strike him down if he turned out to be a threat to their Lord. Draco smiled, not the least bit offended or angry. He was proud. Proud to have such trustworthy comrades, proud to be a part of something like this.
"No, never." he replied firmly, his tone full of conviction and he knew that Wayne was smiling at him. He would never regret it, even if he had to bathe in the blood of innocents.
"Do you want me to do it?" Cedric asked when he saw him hesitate.
"No," Neville replied, "I'll do it. Just needed a minute."
Cedric nodded and started opening the other cells. He didn't blame Neville for being somewhat reluctant, they were about to open the Lestrange cells after all. If he were in Neville's place he wasn't sure that he would have the strength to face them, at least not without having a moment to order his thoughts.
Cedric could hear the Death Eaters opening the other cells and the cheers of the prisioners. He laughed too when he saw one of the Death Eaters being crushed in a hug. It was something that people tended to forget when they talked about the Death Eaters in Azkaban. They were people too, they had families and friends who missed them. That small reunion brought that to the forefront of his mind and he almost felt disgusted with himself. He had once been one of those that saw the Death Eaters as nothing but monsters who deserved what they got. He was so glad to have met Harry. Even with all the murdering and torturing he knew that he was a better person.
A wild cackle from behind him caught his attention and he turned around just in time to see Neville opening the cell of Bellatrix Lestrange.
She was looking at them with wide eyes, taking in their uniform, while Neville was opening the cell beside hers, the one from Rodolphus Lestrange if he wasn't mistaken.
"You're not Death Eaters." Rodolphus stated, his voice gravely and rough. His eyes were sharp, showing a lot less insanity than his wife.
Neville and he stood straighter, pride filling them.
"No," he replied, "We are Ouroboros." the pride he felt saturating every word.
"We follow the Dark Lord Thanatos." Neville added, his voice just as proud.
"Lord Thanatos and Lord Voldemort are allies." Cedric explained, "Everything will be explained to you as soon as you are back at Headquarters."
"My Lord is back?" the longing in Bellatrix's voice was hard to hear. Neither of them could imagine what it would be like to lose their Lord for over a decade.
"Yes, he's back." Neville replied warmly, the hate he had thought he would feel when faced with his parents torturers never making an appearance. He could understand why they had done it. He could imagine himself in their place. If Harry had disappeared they would have done anything to find him, no matter the cost.
Their laughter joining Bellatrix's happy cackle.
The Death Eaters couldn't help but stare when yet another auror went down. They didn't even see the Ouroboros move, he was no more than a shadow.
The Ouroboros that was beside them chuckled and cast another explosive hex, causing chaos in the middle of the auror squadron. Three seconds later another two aurors hit the ground.
"Just what is he?" a Death Eater muttered and Viktor laughed.
"Well, the best way to describe him would be silent killer. He's a wonderful assassin." Viktor remarked. It was true, Blaise moved like a shadow, he had taken the spells that the twins found to move around inconspicuously and perfected them to a T. While the twins used them to spy, Blaise used them as the tools he needed to be a silent killer.
Harry had encouraged it, since he knew that Blaise enjoyed working in the shadows.
"You have assassins in the Ouroboros?" came the shocked exclamation from one of the Death Eaters around them and Viktor laughed.
"We are everything and anything that our Lord needs." Viktor replied, "Though he always encouraged us to perfect our preferred skills."
The Death Eaters nodded, their stance changing slightly. He could see that the Death Eaters were looking at them with different eyes. They were taking them more seriously. Not that they had much of a choice since they had seen Blaise take out more than half of a squadron of aurors.
Adrian laughed when he heard a giggle coming from a little ahead of him. Only their little Luna would make such an enchanting sound in the middle of a bloody battlefield.
She moved around the aurors as if she was dancing, curses flying from her wand, illuminating the air around her in beautiful lights.
Adrian cast a few shields around her, knowing that he didn't need to watch over the little blond but feeling better all the same. She was the most innocent of them, even when she was covered in blood almost from head to toe.
He saw a clear path to Azkaban and motioned for Luna to follow him, they had several Death Eaters to free.
Marcus and Theo stayed close to their Lord, even though they knew that Harry didn't need to be protected. It made them feel better to at least be within cursing distance, especially when wave after wave of aurors came their way. They seemed to be focusing on both Dark Lords, even if a few of them seemed to be shaking in their boots.
Still, they kept their heads in the game and did their best to deal with the aurors that came for them. They had paired together often enough that they knew each others moves as if they were their own.
The Death Eaters stayed away from them, seeing that they would be more of a hindrance to their teamwork than helpful. Though Marcus had seen a Death Eater cast a shield over them when he thought that they wouldn't have been able to shield a curse that was coming their way.
It was a pleasant surprise to see that the Death Eaters were treating them as part of the group. They hadn't expected to receive such a warm welcome. As long as they treated their Lord with respect, the Ouroboros would treat them just as well.
Graham cast a cutting curse at the auror, decapitating him in less than a second. He cursed when he saw that Fleur was a little unsteady on her feet.
"What were you hit with?" he asked her, raising a few shields around them to give her time to recover.
"Bone breaker." she replied through gritted teeth, "The uniform took most of the damage, but I think it fractured my leg. Though I know it's not completely broken. It may be only a hairline fracture."
"Are you good to continue?"
"Yes, let me just numb the area." Fleur muttered, standing straight once more. She wouldn't fail Harry, no matter what.
Graham smiled at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking and agreeing. This was their first raid, they wouldn't fail. No matter what.
Tom couldn't keep his eyes of Harry. His little serpent was almost dancing on the battlefield. He evaded curses with such a grace that Tom couldn't help but marvel. There was room for improvement, of course, but the natural grace and ability he had was a true beauty to behold.
The slight sadistic streak that Harry clearly had also shone through in most curses that he used. There were so many of them that lead to an agonizing death that Tom had to wonder just how and where Harry had learned them.
Harry laughed and the aurors stopped in their tracks.
"Let's make things a little hotter, yes?" Harry asked sweetly and raised his wand, "Fiendfyre!"
A gigantic basilisk formed around Harry, not burning him in the slightest, though to everyone around him it felt as if their skin would melt off of them. The aurors started running, screaming for their lives and Harry laughed, launching his serpent after them. The unlucky ones that weren't fast enough were caught by the fiery beast. They melted on the spot, the smell of burning flesh managed to superimpose itself over everything else.
Tom observed all of it with fascinated eyes. He had never met anyone aside from himself who was able to control such a big stream of the cursed fire.
"My Lord," he turned and saw Lucius coming his way. He arched an eye-brow and Lucius gave a shallow bow as soon as he was beside him, "Azkaban was emptied." he informed him and Tom nodded.
Well, it was time to go than. He gave a signal to all of his Death Eaters, telling them it was time to go.
"Thanatos!" he called, catching Harry's attention, "It's time."
Harry nodded, telling his own followers to leave. He studied his serpent and a smile spread on his lips.
$Burn it down.$ he hissed at it, giving his magic purpose. The snake grew to double it's size and made it's way to Azkaban fortress.
Harry laughed and felt Tom's arms warp around him. The last thing they saw before Tom apparated them out of there was the gigantic basilisk envelope the fortress in it's fiery embrace.
Harry was still laughing when they arrived at Headquarters. He got himself under control and sat on his throne. He was pleased to see that all his Ouroboros were already standing at attention. More than one had blood on them, though he was relieved to see that none appeared to be hurt badly.
As soon as they noticed that their Lord was present the Death Eaters fell into their ranks as well and waited patiently for Tom to speak.
Tom's eyes swept over his forces, noticing that they were all present, meaning that none of them had died or was seriously injured. The prisioners had been portkeyed to the infirmary and he would look how his Death Eaters had fared for the last decade at a later date.
"Death Eaters, tonight we announced our return!" he exclaimed, "Tomorrow morning wizards and witches will wake up to a new era! Rejoice in the knowledge that we took the first step in having the world we have always dreamed of!" the Death Eaters cheered and he smiled wickedly, "Go now; rest, see to your injuries, and reunite with your friends and loved ones." the Death Eaters bowed and started leaving, though Tom could see Lucius and Teodred hesitating slightly. No doubt worried about their son and grandson, though not willing to give their identities away.
Harry noticed it too. He stood from his seat and prowled towards his Ouroboros. He smiled at them, even if they wouldn't be able to see it, he raised his hand and caressed Theo's mask.
"You did good today." he told them warmly, his voice telling them just how pleased he was with them, "Go rest, I'll be calling you later." the Ouroboros bowed, melting back into the shadows and Harry turned towards Lucius and Teodred, "They'll be home by now, neither of them is hurt." he assured them, and chuckled when both men almost sagged in relief, "Don't forget that they are mine now." he added when they were almost out the door and the two Death Eaters faltered slightly, "I always take care of what's mine." he added before they had left the hall completely and chuckled when Lucius glanced back at him before the doors to the meeting room closed.
Not a moment later he found himself pressed against one of the columns in the hall with his lips being devoured by Tom.
It took him a second to realize what was happening, then he was responding with just as much passion. He didn't seem to be able to remember just why he had resisted Tom for as long as he had.
He felt Tom nibble at his lower lip, asking for entrance and he granted it. Though he didn't submit. He dragged Tom into a battle for dominance, it gained him a low growl from Tom that made him shudder.
Tom's hands, that had been holding his head in place, went down to his tights and grabbed him, lifting him up. With no other option he wrapped his legs around Tom's waist. He moaned into their kiss when their groins brushed together. He could feel Tom smirking against his lips and retaliated by grinding against him.
Tom groaned, breaking their kiss.
They were both breathing heavily, their eyes bright with lust.
"I have to go." Harry whispered, not wanting to address what had happened.
"Why?" Tom growled, burying his head in Harry's neck. He started giving light kisses and nibbles along the expanse of skin revealed to him.
"I have to be home when the Order finds out about the raid." Harry replied, closing his eyes and trying to ignore the sensations running through his body. He thanked Merlin to have been able to think up such a reasonable excuse.
Tom growled again, biting him a little more sharply. Harry was sure that it would leave a mark. Tom didn't seem to want to let go, so Harry did the only thing he could, he melted into the shadows and appeared behind his throne.
"I have to go, Tom." he repeated, doing his best to convince himself of that fact. He truly had to go, however it was becoming more difficult the longer he stared at those blood red eyes.
"You can't run forever, Harry." Tom's voice had dropped a little, sounding like liquid chocolate and Harry contained the shiver that wanted to run down his spine. Merlin, the man was sin personified.
"I know." his whispered reply echoed in the hall long after he had left.
A.N.: Hello all :) I hope everything is ok with all of you and that you had a great summer, at least those that live in the northern hemisphere, for those on the southern hemisphere hope the winter isn't too rough.
So the new chapter is finally out. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. Tom finally got his much deserved kiss, even if Harry freaked out a little and ran. Still, at least Tom got his kiss, though I'm sure he would have like more... he was all fired up form the raid XD The wards were explained a little more in detail and they won't be permanent, just for a while. It also explains why Snape wasn't killed as soon as Harry saw him. Severus still has an important role to play and he won't die that easily. It may not seem like it but I rather like him and he won't just roll over and die.
Lucius and Teodred... well, they don't know Harry that well yet... they'll come around.
The Lestarnges are finally in the picture, YAY. I adore them! They'll be so fun to play with, I can't wait :D
I want to thank all of you for your support. It means a lot to me and I hope you continue to enjoy my story
On a completely unrelated note; I was re-watching Deadly Hallows Pt.2 for the millionth time, or at least that's what my sister told me, and right at the end, you know the part, where Harry suddenly grabs Voldemort, you know which part I'm talking about, right? Well, it came to that part, and no matter how many times I've seen it, I still think: OMG they are going to kiss! That's when I realize that's I've been reading too much fanfiction lol