Hey again! :)

Thank you so much Jen for your review! And yes, Salazar is the good guy in this story, he is simply too naive to recognize anything bad in anyone lol.

Hope you all like this chap- no warnings this time again, BUT there will be in the next chap ;)

"It is good to see you again, Mr. Lupin."

He smiled, "please, call me Remus- and it's an honor, Your Highness."

Gryffindor had to laugh, "none of that, if I call you Remus, you will call me Godric- now, how about some tea?"

"Yes, please", Remus accepted the cup with the hot tea gratefully, carefully taking a small sip. The tea was delicious, not that he had expected anything else from Gryffindor. He'd been here before, mostly talking to Salazar Slytherin though.

"How are things at Hogwarts? How is that nephew of yours doing?", he way he was winking at him told Remus all he needed to know- it was hard to let anything slide by the Founders that happened at their school.

"Sirius is…he's still adjusting", which was a fancy way for saying that he was getting in trouble more times he could count, "he's a smart boy, he…he just needs some time."

"I am sure he's quite grateful that you are providing him with a second chance like that", Godric now remarked, causing Remus to frown. Was Sirius grateful? It was a good question- and now that he thought about it, he could not even remember a single incident where Sirius had thanked him for everything he'd been doing for him.

"Uhm…I enjoy it. Sirius deserves to be happy", Remus replied uncomfortably, hoping the Founder was going to change the subject soon.

"Well, as soon as Pettigrew gets arrested for betraying the Potter's, he will be free", Godric now said, seemingly not ready to change the subject yet, "it was a major part of the truce negotiations- and one I did not budge on."

"Thank you, Godric", he meant that, knowing very well that with Peter hiding somewhere in Voldemort's mansion, Sirius would never be declared innocent, but the truce now forced Voldemort to extradite Pettigrew to the Ministry. Fudge had never really bothered to go after Wormtail, and neither had Dumbledore- Peter was simply not important enough for that, and no one had cared much about the fact that that meant a life in hiding for Sirius Black.

"Don't worry about it", the Founder smiled at him, "and how is our dear headmaster doing? Planning the next attack?"

"Not an attack, no- but he is planning a trip."

"A trip?", Gryffindor raised an eyebrow, "where to? Hell?"

Remus had to grin, "to Scotland or, more specifically, to a little village called Lochinver located in the northwest."

"Any idea what he wants to do there?"

Remus shrugged, "I have no clue. He just told us at the teacher's conference this morning that he has to go up to Scotland for a few days- and later, when he was talking to McGonagall, I overheard him telling her he was going to go to Lochinver. She seemed familiar with that name, being Scottish herself."

Gryffindor nodded thoughtfully, "a trip right now as soon as the truce got signed certainly raises suspicions…when exactly is he leaving?"

"He's leaving tonight but I don't know the exact time."

"I'll find out", Gryffindor was already getting up, "thank you, Remus- this is certainly helpful. I am sorry to throw you out like this…"

"It's alright", he had to laugh, "I understand. Please let me know if you need any help."

"I will, thank you."

"You are welcome", he left Gryffindor Manor the way he'd arrived- by using the floo network. Godric was eager to leave as well, knowing that whatever Dumbledore planned to do in Scotland, it certainly was not going to be something nice.

"Severus."

"Mylord", the Potion Master bowed his head, "how may I help you?"

"I need a potion", he had gotten up and was walking over to the enormous window showing a breathtaking rose garden outside, with the full moon shining on the roses slowly moving in the nightly breeze, "a very…specific potion."

Snape's face stayed completely emotionless, "certainly, Mylord. What is the name of the potion you desire?"

He told him, and he saw Snape's eyes widen in stunned surprise for the fraction of a second before his face switched back to a mask.

"Will that be a problem, Severus?", it was a rhetorical question, and Snape was smart enough to recognize that, "of course not, Mylord. I will bring you the potion tonight."

"As soon as possible", his Lord corrected, "and some basilisk poison as well."

"Yes, Mylord."

He did not need to ask what the poison was for- basilisk poison was the strongest poison there was, killing anyone no matter if they were human, dog, horse or werewolf within seconds. Voldemort had always liked basilisk poison for being odorless and transparent.

He flooed back to Hogwarts and went straight to his potion's cabinet, scanned his shelves with a frown, grabbed the desired potions and hurried back. His Lord had the patience of a three year old, and he was more than thankful to find him still staring out the window when he announced himself.

"Put them on the table, Severus", he ordered without thanking him, not even bothering to turn around, "you can leave- just keep yourself available, it is happening soon."

Snape knew that keeping himself available meant another night without sleep, simply waiting for his Dark Mark to call him back, but being tired still beat being dead, so he was not going to complain.

"Have a goodnight, Mylord", he said politely, leaving the room to floo back to Hogwarts. As expected, his Lord did not respond, he just kept staring out of the window. He turned around eventually, about twenty minutes after Snape had left and walked over to the table, examining the potions.

Perfect.

His plan was coming along nicely- but the most important part was still ahead of him. He had to break the truce.

Now, the truce was a binding document, meaning he'd automatically get arrested when he broke a part of it, but he had prepared for that- he had prepared for everything.

It was perfect timing that Gryffindor was snooping after Dumbledore in Scotland right now, doing whatever, so he'd one less Founder to worry about.

The Death Eaters had practiced for this attack for months now, and the goal was not to kill as many army members as possible, the goal was to have the army members kill each other. He wanted them to turn on each other- and he knew exactly how to achieve that goal.

"Wormtail!"

"Ye…yes, Master?", his servant was trembling, covered in sweat. He knew what his part of the plan entailed, and he was more than a little nervous about it- he was terrified.

"Is the polyjuice ready?"

"Yes, Mylord."

"Go and get it- we have no more time to waste."

Pettigrew ran off, only to return minutes later with a small cauldron full of polyjuice potion. It had taken forever to brew it, a downside of the potion, but now it was finally ready. Taking some hair from Salazar Slytherin had been easy- the man had very long and curly hair, and with his constant visits to the conference room, there had been more than enough opportunities to take some of the hair he needed for the polyjuice potion.

"Drink it", he demanded, and Pettigrew gulped, but he would not dare to disrespect his Lord- so he drank, shuddering.

"Urgg!"

"Control yourself, Wormtail!", he snarled at his servant, "now, the Death Eaters are already in position to distract Slytherin- I told him I'd meet him tonight to celebrate the truce, so you are clear to go address his little army. You know what to tell them?"

"Yes, Mylord", Peter croaked, already transforming into Salazar Slytherin in front of his eyes, "I…I do."

"You will have to pass the guards by the door, and they will most likely ask you for some kind of code or password. There's two of them, so this should be more than enough", he handed him a vial with basilisk poison, "pour that in their drinks, they are always drinking something. As soon as you are inside, feel free to kill as many of them as you want."

"Yes…Mylord", Peter alias Salazar was sweating, and Voldemort curled his thin lips in disgust, "you are a King now, a Founder- so act like it", it was really a shame he had no one else for this job- Lucius Malfoy would have been perfect, but he needed him with the Death Eaters since he was one of the only ones with half a functioning brain in his Order.

"Go and do your job- and if you disappoint me tonight, death will sound merciful to you", he hissed at him, causing Peter-Salazar to whimper, which looked somewhat ridiculous. Peter finally apparated, and he hurried to move along, too. The plan was that Peter-Salazar would announce that there were traitors inside their army at the meeting, randomly killing some of them to create an uproar, with some Death Eaters lying in wait to join. The other, bigger group of Death Eaters would keep the real Salazar distracted and far away from the meeting, and once everyone in the army was fighting each other, he'd show up with the remaining Death Eaters and finish the rest of them off. Snape would stay at Hogwarts to make sure Potter and his weasels were not going to join in to support Slytherin's army, while he had the Carrow siblings spying on Aurelius to prevent him from helping as well- and to kill him if he dared to interfere again.

And I hope he will interfere again.

He took the potion out of his pocket that Snape had gotten for him, knowing he'd have to time taking it perfectly. It could not be too early, but it also could not be too late- they were going to Stupor him and search him, so he had to make sure he took it before any of that happened.

"Mylord?"

"What is it?", he snarled, feeling interrupted.

Amycus Carrow was panting, his hard face glistering with sweat, "the…the boy…"

"What about him?"

"He…he got attacked."

He had never been more ready to cast an Avada, "and why is that newsworthy?"

"He got attacked by Dumbledore's men."

Voldemort paled, not understanding, "why would…"

"They are blaming you, Mylord", Carrow hurried to explain, "the…the men who attacked him were dressed like us, that's why my sister and I thought you…had sent them, but then they started to talk, and we did not recognize their voi…"

"I did not send anyone after the bastard!", Voldemort interrupted him, losing his patience, "what is happening?"

"The…army is already forming to counterattack, saying that since you broke the truce first, they can retaliate now."

"What?!", he roared, his eyes turning dark red, "that was never part of the plan!", the army was supposed to weaken each other first after Peter-Salazar had stirred up chaos among them, "what about Wormtail? I thought he was going…"

"Mylord!"

He whirled around, coming face to face with Peter-Salazar, who was shivering so much he looked like he was going to have a heart attack at any second now, "they…the army…", he started to sob like a child, "the son got attacked…"

"I already knew that, get to the point!", he hissed, disgusted by his servant's weakness, "you were supposed to turn them against each other!"

"I…I tried, and then…someone notified them about the attack, and…they all asked me what to do, how to help Aurelius…"

"And you better didn't, Wormtail", his voice was merely a whisper, cold and hard.

"I…I thought…since he…is supposed to be…my son…"

"Crucio."

Pettigrew fell to the floor, screaming, his face an expression of agony. No one paid him any attention though, since just at that moment, Malfoy apparated right into the room, "Mylord, the…the attack, Gryffindor's army…and Dumbledore…", he sounded and looked more frazzled than he'd ever seen him, "attacking from…both sides!"

He planned this.

Voldemort had no clue how Dumbledore had found out that he was going to attack Gryffindor's army tonight, but he had found out- and decided to act before he could. He did not have time to think more about it now, it was time to act.

He apparated straight back to the bigger group of his Death Eaters, along with Malfoy and Amycus Carrow, leaving Pettigrew who was slowly transforming back into himself screaming on the floor.

The Death Eaters were getting attacked mercilessly, mainly by Dumbledore's troops from the looks of it, and he spotted Salazar Slytherin among the Death Eaters still, who seemed to have no clue what was going on.

"What is happening?"

He would not be Voldemort if he was not going to use Slytherin's confusion to his own advantage, "Dumbledore's thugs attacked your son- and we tried to help him, so now they are attacking us as well", he lied without blinking, defending himself from three curses at the same time, "Dumbledore is insane. We need your help", and he could not believe he was saying that, but Dumbledore's troops would not stand a chance against the Founder if he really went all in.

"I…I don't think…"

"Please. You know what Dumbledore did to me…please help me", this act was going to be his masterpiece, he just knew it.

You emotional fool would do anything to ease what you've seen off your conscience.

And he was right.

Salazar did feel guilty about what he had to see in Voldemort's mind, and after a short hesitation, he did help them defend each other against Dumbledore's troops, fighting on the side of Voldemort and most of his Death Eaters- and what a sight that was.

I wish Gryffindor could see this- he would lose his mind.

He knew that it would have been hopeless to help the other group though, still at the Ministry after Peter-Salazar had fled the scene. They were getting attacked by Gryffindor's army, and his small group of Death Eaters there would not stand a chance. It wasn't too much of a loss, since the group mostly consisted of bloodthirsty sadists like Fenrir Greyback and Yaxley, who often went out to did their own thing during robberies, not caring much for his authority. They would not be missed, he'd find someone like them again quickly. Now, Death Eaters like Lucius Malfoy, Snape or Devon Zabini who worked as their Healer were much harder to replace, and that's why he kept them with the bigger group- even though Snape was in Hogwarts right now.

They were able to push back Dumbledore's attack, with many of them fleeing in panic once Salazar had actively started to participate in the battle.

But then, out of nowhere, Gryffindor's army appeared- led by no one else than Godric Gryffindor himself, his expression murderous enough to have him reach for the potion in his pocket instantly. He had expected Gryffindor to get notice about what was happening at some point, and he knew he'd have to pay the price for deceiving Slytherin into helping his Death Eaters.

He quickly swallowed the potion, and not a second too late.

The last thing he saw before everything turned black was Gryffindor pointing his wand at him, the rage on his face making him quite grateful to escape to unconsciousness now.

You might have won the battle, Gryffindor- but not the war.

"You are being ridiculous. I can explain…"

"Explain? Explain?", Godric had never been more enraged than he was now, "the only explanation I accept is if you were under an Imperio- and was that the case?"

Salazar stayed silent.

"Answer me!"

"You don't need to yell at me like this, Godric!", the Slytherin shot him a disapproving glance, "besides, you are going to wake up Aurelius."

"Too late for that", their son slowly entered the living room, parts of his left arm and shoulder bandaged up, "not that I can sleep anyway after what happened today."

"Are you in any pain? Do you need more pain meds?", Salazar immediately asked, and Aurelius sighed, carefully sitting down on the couch by the wall, "I am okay, Dad, thank you. I just need…to understand."

"You are not the only one who does, son", Godric's tone was biting, "imagine my shock when I am out of nowhere being told by one of our army members that you got attacked by Voldemort's thugs- and when our army is gathering to attack them, who do I see proudly fighting alongside the Dark Lord? Your father."

"I was not fighting proudly- I was helping them to defend themselves against Dumbledore", Salazar replied, irritation in his voice, "Voldemort did not attack Aurelius- Dumbledore did."

"Forgive me for correcting you, Dad- but the wizards who attacked me were Death Eaters", Aurelius interrupted him, his voice sharper than indented, "and why did you tell our army at the meeting tonight that they were traitors among us? Who did you mean?"

"I was not at any army meeting. I was with the Death Eaters the whole time."

Godric narrowed his eyes, "I had multiple army members telling me that you showed up late to the meeting to tell everyone we had traitors in our army, and then when the army went to help Aurelius after he got attacked, you suddenly disappeared."

"Listen to me for one second, will you? I wasn't there, Godric!"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"Are you calling me one?"

Aurelius cleared his throat, uncomfortable by having to witness another of his parent's fights, "none of this is making any sense then- who was at the meeting? And why did Dumbledore's troops attack Voldemort? I thought he was still in Scotland."

"He is- I know that for a fact. I have been keeping a very close eye on him the whole time", Gryffindor confirmed. He had been able to easily apparate from Scotland, even though he had been hours away- it was one of the advantages of being a Founder, along with the advantage of being able to time travel. Dumbledore on the other hand was unable to apparate from Scotland as it was too far away.

"Maybe Voldemort attacked Dumbledore first then", Aurelius suggested, and Salazar shook his head, "he did not- they attacked him first. I was with the Death Eaters the whole time since I was supposed to meet Voldemort tonight to celebrate the truce."

"And what a celebration that was", Gryffindor could not help himself to add, causing Salazar to stand up, his face hardening, "I am not going to have you disrespect me like this, Godric", he informed him, "I am telling you the truth, but I am starting to believe you only want to hear what fits your own agenda, to have an excuse to attack Dumbledore."

"I don't need an excuse for that", he knew it had been the wrong thing to say when Salazar stared at him in disbelief, and then he let out a short laugh, "right, because you were never serious about not attacking him- just like you were never serious about not attacking Voldemort, as I could see tonight."

"Careful what you are implying there", Gryffindor's voice had gotten low, which was always a sign of danger, "I worked hard for this truce as well- not that it matters now, the attacks clearly destroyed it."

"I believe Voldemort when he said he didn't attack Aurelius."

"And I believe my own son, imagine that."

Aurelius winced, he had never hear his parents use that tone with each other, and he suddenly felt like throwing up, "I…I am going to bed", he mumbled, not getting a response- his parents were still too busy arguing, and if he had not used a dreamless sleep potion eventually, he'd have been forced to listen to their yelling all night.

"Severus", Remus forced himself to smile, even though smiling was the last thing he felt like doing, "how can I help you?"

The Potion Master slowly entered his office, closing the door behind him, "Lupin…", it sounded cold, "you seem to be doing quite well for what happened last night."

"I…I was not part of the…attack", Remus replied, "I…I just joined Gryffindor's army a little while ago, so I have not been able to practice with them."

"I see", it sounded smug, and Remus felt his irritation rising, "and you? I guess you are glad to be able to prove finally that you are not a Death Eater, since you did not get arrested with most of them last night."

Snape did not bother to explain that it was simply because he had been told to stay at Hogwarts and keep an eye on Potter and his gang- it wasn't like Remus Lupin needed to know that.

"I actually came here to discuss another matter with you- something quite serious."

"Oh yeah?"

Snape narrowed his eyes, "I am missing a potion."

"Maybe a Wanted sign and a reward might help?"

Snape curled his lips, "do I look like I am appreciating you ridiculing me?"

Remus swallowed, "I…am sorry. What…which potion are you missing?", he had an idea what potion Snape was talking about, and when the Potion Master told him the name of the potion, he paled, but forced himself to stay calm.

"I…I have never…heard of that potion before."

"You haven't? Interesting- since it is the exact same potion that was used to deage Black to a second grader."

Oh Shit.

Snape let out a small, mocking laugh, "you thought I wouldn't recognize him, Lupin? Black will never change, it does not matter which name you give him and how much you try to configure his face- he is still the same disrespectful, angry, and lazy little brat he has been before."

"He's not…he's not that bad, I mean…he just…he needs…"

"The potion, Lupin", Snape interrupted him smoothly, clearly not interested in discussing Sirius' needs, "I would like to know what happened to it. I had two of them in my cabinet, and now one is missing."

"I really don't…"

"Do not lie to me, Lupin!"

Remus flinched, hating this. He had stolen the potion, out of pure desperation- deaging potions were not something one could easily brew. They took forever, and it took lots of time and talent and some very expensive ingredients to brew one, so what other choice did he had?

"You could have asked me, Lupin."

Remus blinked, realizing Snape had read his latest thought, "sure, like I keep asking you for the Wolfsbane Potion- and you are always so accommodating with that as well, right?", it sounded as sarcastic as it was meant, and he could not help but feel a tiny bit triumphant when he saw Snape wince slightly.

But of course, the Potion Master quickly regained his composure, "you are admitting it then, Lupin? That you stole the potion?"

"Yes, I am. I took it", there was no point to keep lying, and he had half expected Snape to really lose it now, to lecture him and drag him to Dumbledore, but the man just eyed him for a long, silent moment, and then he simply turned around and left the room, leaving Remus to stare after him.

What the hell was that about?

They had locked him into a cell, a small, cold cell- that was the first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes.

The second thing he noticed when he slowly stood up, his head pounding with a headache, was that the potion had worked. It had worked perfectly.

He smiled, satisfied with the results, and then he went to explore his cell a little more. There wasn't much- a small bed, a table, a chair, a toilet and a sink- and a tiny window, too tiny to escape through. The cells to his left and right were empty- telling him that his Death Eaters were either dead or had been taken somewhere else. He could tell this was not Azkaban, Azkaban was on an island and when he looked out the window, he could see a tiny bit of green, assuming he was seeing some trees.

They probably locked me up at the Ministry- or in some basement dungeon.

He could hear footsteps suddenly, hesitant ones, so he went over to the door of his cell, leaning against the bars expectantly.

Let's hope it's that fool Slytherin- I am dying to see his reaction.

It wasn't Slytherin, it was a simple house elf, carrying a tray with some slimy looking food.

"The lunch for…", the elf was not able to finish his sentence, his eyes went huge with shock when he saw him, and then he started to scream in terror, dropping the tray. Everything fell to the floor, clattering loudly, but the terrorized wails of the elf were even louder, and he had to laugh when he watched the house elf ran back down the small corridor as fast as he could, even though it meant he'd go without lunch.

That was better than I hoped for- I wonder if Slytherin and his bastard are going to wail like this, too.

And he could not wait to find out.

that is it for now :) it will be revealed in the next chap what potion Voldemort took- and there will be quite the...intense confrontation between Tom and Aurelius.

I'd loooooove some feedback from you!

xoxo,

Antonie :)