Hereby the newest chapter. Huh, I believe I'm actually within my normal deadline...
I'll issue a warning though: my first year of university (I'm going to study archeology for those who are interested) starts in three/ four weeks. The introduction week of said university is in two weeks. This all means that I'll have little time to update so don't act to surprised that I'll only update once every two months (unless I've time).

Another point entirely: I know that people rarely read AN's (I'll admit that I normally don't read them either). But please, if a chapter appears twice: read the bloody AN already and don't bother me with the question 'how come the chapter was posted twice?'. Because I actually explain it right here in the AN at the very top of the chapter.

Well now that that is out of my system: there will be mistakes in this chapter. I've a killer headache (and absolutely no idea why), I'm tired because of the most boring job ever, I've little time and I'll be gone for some weeks before university begins as stated above. So if you see a mistake: please tell me and I'll change it.

Summary: When Sirius told Harry that all pure-blood families were interrelated, he wondered if he had other living family members, besides the Dursley's, who were close enough related to fall under the blood protection, hoping that once he found them that he could legally live with that family and leave the Dursley's forever. What he found changes everything, for both him and the war... Dark Fic.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Warnings: The aftermath of the torture.

Pairings: TR/OC, HP/LL (no offense to anyone but I'm not going to change this pairing as you guys as readers actually chose this pairing!)

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed, it's appreciated.

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and don't forget to leave a review once you've read it!

Family ties

Chapter 24

Letters, books '…'
Spells, inside the memory …
Parseltongue ":…:"

oOoOoOo

The silence during the walk towards the headmaster's office – which was way too long in his opinion - was oppressive and Harry could almost physically feel the heavy looks the Head of Gryffindor shot him.
The silence became even more uncomfortable when they rode the stairs behind the gargoyle protecting the headmaster's office and it took all his willpower to make sure that he didn't squirm.
He almost sighed in relieve as they finally entered the room and he was told to take a seat in front of the large, ancient desk.

McGonagall choose to stand next to the door and Dumbledore seated himself in his usual spot behind the desk before he laced his fingers together. He rested his head on his entangled hands and studied Harry with sharp, blue eyes.
"Do you know how concerned everyone has been over your disappearance?" he finally asked softly after a couple of minutes – which had been filled with the same oppressive silence as before, "I must insist that you tell us where you have been!"

Harry remained silent, not really sure what to answer. Voldemort hadn't given him an excuse as – apparently – it was better to make something up on the spot then panic because he couldn't remember a tiny little detail of a lie he had to learn by heart.

So now he had to make something up. He could, of course, tell him that he had stayed with family but he knew that he would get the questions of 'who' and 'where'. As he had promised that he wouldn't tell anyone, he was aware that thatparticular option was out.

Then there was the option of telling Dumbledore that he had stayed with a friend. The problem was that both Ron and Hermione knew that he didn't have friends in the muggle world and he had spent most of his time with them in the past couple of years so they were also aware who he considered his friends in the wizarding world. So that was out too.
Besides, both Neville and Luna had stayed at Hogwarts so he couldn't ask them to lie for him either – not that he particularly liked that option.

He could always tell the man that it wasn't his business – which it probably wasn't – but this was Dumbledore and the man had always tried to help him – most of the time anyway – and even though Harry knew that the man would let him die if it would keep a lot of people safe he knew the man would be haunted by his death – at least, he hoped so.
The very last option he had was to stay silent and wait until someone else broke the silence.

In the end, he decided on the last option and he remained silent under Dumbledore's searching gaze.

"You know how unsafe it is now that Voldemort is back, Harry," Dumbledore continued as soon as he noticed that Harry wouldn't answer and Harry felt bad as he heard the concern in the man's voice, "and I know that you know that he is after you. You must tell me so I can make sure that you are safe!"
"I was safe from Voldemort and his followers," Harry finally stated softly, "they couldn't harm me."

Dumbledore sighed and leaned back, "do you know what happened to you aunt, uncle and cousin?"
Harry averted his gaze to the floor before he nodded, "I saw."
"How?" McGonagall gasped but it was Dumbledore that answered, "your scar."
Harry just made a motion that neither confirmed it or denied it.
"You are aware that what happened to them can happen to you too, right," Dumbledore stated softly, "we must know! You are important to a lot of people."

Harry just stayed silent and after a couple of minutes Dumbledore sighed.
"We'll have to make arrangements for this summer," he said as he shook his head slightly, "I'm sorry for your loss."
Harry just shrugged. While he hadn't liked the fact that he had to make that decision and while he hadn't wanted them to die – and certainly not in that way - he didn't miss them and he didn't really consider it a 'loss'.
Besides, he already knew that he would stay with Voldemort during the summer. It wasn't like he had a choice in the matter.

Another silence fell, only to be broken by Dumbledore.
"And Severus?" Dumbledore asked after a couple of seconds, "do you happen to know what happened to professor Snape?"
Harry shook his head as he had only seen the very start of the torturing and Voldemort hadn't deemed it important enough to tell him. He hadn't asked either but he could guess what had happened to the man.

"Well, off to dinner with you!" Dumbledore said as soon as he realized that Harry wouldn't answer any of his questions and Harry – recognizing when someone dismissed him – stood and left.

oOoOoOo

Albus watched Harry leave before he sighed and slumped down in his chair, seemingly old and defeated.
"Where do you think he has been?" Minerva asked softly as she sat down in the chair Harry had occupied just seconds ago.
"I don't know," Albus said wearily, "but it seems that wherever he was, it was better than at the Dursleys."
Minerva shot him an unreadable look – though she didn't give her opinion as she was aware that he already knew her opinion on the late Dursleys – before she asked, "how so?"
"While he seems pale and appears to have a slightly haunted look in his eyes he looks healthy and almost happy," Albus stated, "he looks the way I hoped he would look in his first year when he first came here – minus the haunted look of course."

"So you will not force him to tell where he has stayed?" Minerva asked curiously, "you'll let him stay there for the summer?"
"No," Albus said with a deep sigh, "it is our duty to make sure that the boy is safe. We owe it to Lily and James. This means that we mustknow where he has stayed and where he will stay for the summer. I believe Grimmauld Place would be the best place for him to stay. And it will keep Sirius happy."

"Will it still be used for Order meetings?" Minerva asked stiffly.
"Yes," Albus answered, "it is the safest place after Hogwarts and Hogwarts would be far too obvious."

Minerva opened her mouth to say something when the flames in the hearth turned green and Poppy's head appeared.
"Albus," she almost shouted, "Emmeline is awake!"

oOo

"How are you, my dear," Albus asked to the woman laying on the bed.
"Sore," Emmeline answered wryly, her voice barely above whisper and weak, "my stomach hurts terrible and I seem to have lost the feeling in my fingers, toes, tip of my nose and ears and part of my arms and legs."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Albus told her, "and I'm sorry I have to ask this but can you tell me what happened?"

"Not a problem," She said before she coughed quietly, "I was captured by some Death Eaters while looking for Harry Potter. They stunned me – at least, I think that they stunned me – because I woke up in a dungeon. My wand had been removed and while I could move around, there was a shackle a little more than a meter long around my ankle that tied me to the wall. It might have been hours later - but it could have been longer, I don't know – that a Death Eater came. He told me that I was the main subject of a meeting before he released me, took me out of my cell and pulled me out of the dungeons into a gigantic hallway and towards a couple of large, French doors. Once there, he cast a Petrificus Totaluson me before he entered through said doors. It was at least half an hour later that he returned."

She coughed – a little harder this time - and grappled for the glass of water – which was slightly purple due to some potion - next to her bed but Albus was faster and handed it to her. She quickly drained it before she coughed again. Her voice had started to become hoarse and it was clear that her throat had started to hurt somewhere during her account of what had happened.
"Do you think you can continue?" he asked her worried.
She nodded, "he cancelled the spell before he dragged me towards the doors and through them - at which point I managed to pull myself away from his grip. The room – probable a large ballroom or an ex formal dining room – was filled with Death Eaters and You-Know-Who was seated on a throne-like chair on a dais at the very front of the room. There stood someone next to him, a teen."

Her voice had become even softer and had started to become even more hoarse and more coughs had interrupted her story. All in all, it had become very hard to understand her and she seemed to have noticed it because she urgently said as loud as she could, "Albus, You-Know-who has a heir!"

oOoOoOo

"There is something different," Luna told him as soon as he seated himself across of her at the Ravenclaw table – which had become normal for them weeks before the winter break - the next morning, "you look different."
"How so?" Harry asked her curious as he put some toast on his plate.
"You look more healthy, more happy," she told him seriously, "and your voice has changed slightly."
"I do?" Harry asked surprised, "it has?"
"Yes, you do and yes, it has.. It's strange. He is actually better for you than those Muggles…," Neville answered from behind them and he moved to seat himself next to Harry, "and about you voice: it is... I can't tell what exactly changed but it isn't a bad change, just different. It kinda suits you. Why? Did something happen that made it change?"
"Different language," Harry said with a shrug and a look that told them that he would tell them later.
A comfortable silence fell as they continued to eat before Luna interrupted with a: "I believe the lessons start soon. Shall we go?"
The others nodded and together they left the Hall before they split up to their respective lessons.

oOoOoOo

The ritual room was the only room in the entire manor which wasn't cleaned by magic. It was also the cleanest room as both magic, dirt and dust – which somehow managed to collect magic out of the very air – would be hazardous for any ritual he would want to execute.
And in this case it would be double as dangerous as it didn't just involve his body but his very soul.

The room itself was large and mostly bare. The floor and walls were made out of one single slab of onyx – as it was one of the few stones that didn't absorb magic or had its own magic that could disrupt the ritual – and the door could be hidden away behind a single loose piece of the same stone.
A small table – also made out of onyx and which was meant as a surface to place the necessary ingredients for the rituals – was placed next to the door and a large onyx chest was meant for items like clothing and wands – items which contained either their own magic or which had collected magic from their surrounding or the air.
The only setback from using onyx was the fact that it was black which caused the room to be pitch black when one didn't lit the candles.

He carefully placed the small box with the vials of blood and the book – which he had collected from the library - down on the table before he let Nagini slither down his arms and on the cold ground. She wasn't really needed but she was there to keep him stable and to make sure that he would be able to get out once he was finished with the ritual.

He lit the handmade candles and sealed the room with the slab of stone immediately after to make sure that no magic from the outside could enter. There would always be some magic – it was inevitable – but a small amount of magic wouldn't be harmful. Otherwise it would have been too dangerous to bring Nagini orthe book.

He disrobed until he was as naked as the day he was born before he placed all the items he had on him in the chest and closed it.

He opened the book on the right page and checked if he had everything he needed. Of course he already had checked two times before he entered the room but it wouldn't do to find out that he had forgotten something in the library when it was too late.

The ritual itself wasn't that hard. It was really just a necromancer ritual to summon a soul or a part of a soul.
Normally necromancy was a skill you had to be born with and you could only be born with it if both your parents had at least one chromosome with the skill on it – and even then it was rare to be born a necromancer.
Needless to say, he hadn't been born as a necromancer.
Luckily, some rituals could be used by people who hadn't been born with the skill.
It also needed nothing more than some blood to draw the necessary runes – Norse runes luckily – and some blood to sacrifice to the summoned soul – or part thereof.

It was recommended that one used the blood of a close family member. Sons, daughters or parents were preferred but grandchildren or cousins would do the trick too.
But as it had to be as fresh as possible and as he had promised that he wouldn't hurt his heir – and taking two litres of blood in one single day did count as 'hurt' in his books as it would weaken the boy terribly – he would have to do with the only alternative available.

His child's blood contained the blood of a Black due to his godfather – one had to give a small amount of blood to a child to become a godfather – and his grandmother. He had the blood of his heir in his veins so he could use a Black. There were only a couple of Blacks left: Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Andromeda Tonks and Sirius Black.
It was considered rude to ask the blood of a lady so the first two options were out – even though Bellatrix didn't really count as a lady and would have given her blood to him without a second thought. And – as he had promised his heir that he wouldn't hurt the man – so was Black.
He could use Tonks of course but that meant that he had to find her and he knew that she was behind some really strong wards. So that meant that it would take too long for him to find her.
That left him with the family members of the Blacks and, luckily for him, he had a Malfoy who wanted to be back in his good opened the first vial of blood and started to draw the runes the book mentioned in the way the book mentioned. The problem with this particular ritual was that if he made a mistake – even a small one – the soul he summoned would be able to consume him. Even if it was just a shard of his own soul.

It took him ridiculously long – he didn't even know how long as he had no way to check the time – before he was finally done with the ritual circle. He checked it three times before he was sure that he had made no mistakes and before he was satisfied with the result.

All he had to do now, was chant and hope that he summoned forth the part of his soul his heir had sent to wherever it was souls go. Maybe he could ask the part of his soul later?

oOo

The first thing Voldemort noticed when he woke up was that he felt… different.
Of course he felt sore, tired, drained, cold and his head hurt like he had been hit by something big – likely a group of dragons or something similar - but he had at least expected that as no ritual left one feeling chipper and energetic right after the ritual had taken place.
He slowly opened his eyes only to groan as he noticed how dark it was. Apparently the candles had melted away some time ago.

He groaned again as he tried to lift himself of the ground only to collapse again. He rested his cheek against the cold floor and decided that laying there was – on the moment – comfortable enough to get some of his strength back.

oOo

The second time he woke up he felt slightly better. Still different, but he was less sore and the pain in his head had subsided slightly.
It was still dark – not that he expected anything else – and he was still cold, drained and tired but he felt at least capable of getting to his rooms to get some rest.

He shakily managed to sit up before he rose on unstable feet. He took some very shaky steps towards the entrance – which he only managed to find thanks to Nagini's hissed instructions – and pushed against the door. He hoped that he had enough strength left to push the heavy stone slab away. Thanks to one of the many rituals he had done in his youth he should be far stronger than a normal human being but then, he was aware that when he was this tired his strength would have waned considerably.

It took him what felt like hours but he finally managed to push the stone away and as quick as he could exited the ritual room – not caring that he was still naked.

He thanked the forefathers who had built the manor that the ritual room was near his own rooms as he quickly – or as quick as he could in his conditions – made his way towards his bedchambers.

oOo

The first thing he did when he woke up for the third time was to check if everything had happened as it should have happened. He still felt different – lighter, more free – but he wasn't sore anymore, his headache had subsided completely and – while he was still tired – he no longer felt drained or cold.

His spell showed that he had the largest part of his soul back – which meant that the ritual had been a success – and he felt more stable than he had in years.
Besides that he noticed almost immediately that he had physically changed. He no longer looked snakelike. In fact, he looked very similar to how he appeared when he used the potion. The only difference were the slit, red eyes – which were odd as it should have been impossible to have eyes that colour and shape, even for wizards – the skin that was still too pale and the fact that he was far too thin to be healthy.

All in all, the ritual had been a success.

And now all he had to decide which horcrux he would absorb next.

oOoOoOo

It was a couple of days later that Harry started to notice small changes in the people around him.

The first change was Ginny. She was around far more often and would immediately attach herself to his arm the moment she saw him. She didn't even care where they were or who saw it.
It was annoying and Harry shook her of as soon as she attached herself to him but she always giggled when he did that and just attached herself to him again.
Besides that, she would always talk about how she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him, which clothes she would wear and how cute a couple they would make.
No matter what he said or did, she just couldn't take a hint – or get one.
In the end he just took the Marauder Map with him and made sure to avoid her.

The second change was the way Malfoy had started to act around him. He had stopped baiting him personally but every time they would bump against each other in the hallways he would sneer and – if they were present – he would jeer at, taunt and call pretty cruel names at his friends.
But that wasn't the only change. In classes he would make snide remarks at his work or the way he acted. He had even gone so far as to lie to teachers to get Harry into trouble.
All in all, Harry wondered what had changed and he had decided to ask Voldemort, hoping that he would know - or that he could ask Lucius what the other boy's problem was. Not that he liked doing it that way but Malfoy's word had started to make both Neville and Luna miserable and the teachers wouldn't listen.

The third change were Ron and Hermione. After he had returned from the Christmas holidays they had treated him the way they used to treat him before they got together. Hermione had started to scold him when she believed that he was slacking – not that he was slacking, he liked going to Hogwarts thank-you-very-much! – and Ron tried to get him to play chess or some other game with him.
During meals they would insert themselves in their conversations or they would start entire new conversations - mostly about the upcoming holidays, the amount of homework or something along those lines.
Besides that, they would sit next him in lessons like they used to do – or at least, they tried as Harry made sure that Neville would always sit right next to him.
He was happy that they tried to involve him but sometimes they irritated him. In the couple of months they had barely spoken he had changed and while he had missed them he liked the way things had turned out – even though he had to admit that he was still getting used to the fact that Voldemort was his grandfather.

The fourth change was Umbridge. Before the break she had barely mentioned him. Oh she gave him some compliments because of his 'good work' but that was it.
After the break she gushed about him and the work he handed in. The first time it had happened he had been shocked but now, now he just used it to his own advantage. Though, he had to admit that he was curious about the abrupt change.
He still didn't like her but he had to admit that – by using the things Voldemort had taught him – she was… tolerable.
That, and she gave him full access to the Restricted Section of the library after he had mentioned something about creatures and not being able to find a thing in the main library or by using his normal source.

The last change was the fact that they had a new potions teacher. The man – Slughorn – was different than what he – and most of the students – had expected.
From what he had seen the man didn't care about your House. No he cared about either your name, your – most often famous – family members, a certain title one had or how well one did in certain subjects. All in all, he reminded him slightly of a very large and very fat spider that sat in the middle of his web.
But – so far – no one had complained about his teaching methods, so Harry was actually looking forward to his first potion lesson as he was beyond curious about the man.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

Anyway: don't hesitate to leave a review! (Which is even easier than before!)

~Marwana