Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own Harry Potter.

Thank you to all of you who have reviewed and given me your support. Here's a longer chapter for you. I'm having an inner debate about skipping his training and going right for the war but I haven't decided yet. What do you think? I look forward to hearing what you think of this chapter.

Chapter 28

Atani and Draco were back home for Yule and both boys were more then happy to be home. Of course they knew that they would be forced to study for their OWLs while on break but they didn't care. Atani was going to have a nice long talk with his father though about the dreams. The moment he walked in the door his father pulled him into a big hug and stroked his hair.

"How're you Atani? It's good to have you back." He asked, stroking his hair out of his face.

"I need to talk to you alone." He replied, hugging him.

He nodded, "Alright, let's go talk." He said, walking to Lucius' study.

The moment they were inside and the door was closed Atani spoke, trying to remain calm, "Don't send me another dream!" He said, his voice a bit sharp, "I can't sleep, I can't focus, how am I supposed to get through my OWLs if I can't think straight! I'm sleep deprived!"

He sighed, "Atani, you know why I'm sending them. If you would like my plans to be bumped forward and you be taken out of school that can happen and the dreams can stop. It's up to you Atani, do you want to never set foot in Hogwarts again until we take it over or do you want to continue going to school? This is your choice. You know as well as I do that if the dreams stop he will know that you have spoken with me and that you know you are my son." He paused and stroked his hair out of his face, "You're old enough to make this decision, I want you to choose. If you decide to leave Hogwarts then you will be taught here and it won't be as easy as you've had it."

"What about Drac?"

"He will remain at Hogwarts, where else would he go?"

"I don't know…" He trialed off, "I just don't know if I'd be able to sleep without him."

He shook his head, chuckling softly, "It's up to you Atani." He said, brushing his hair out of his face, "You're an adult and can make your own choices."

"Let me think about it." He paused, "I'll give you my answer before break is over. Right now I just want to enjoy being with you and everyone else here." After he spoke he gave him a big hug, leaning his head on his shoulder.

It didn't feel like long before it was time for Atani to make his decision. He approached his father the night before they were supposed to return to Hogwarts, "I can't go back." He said softly, "I can't stand his manipulations and the nightmares anymore."

Voldemort nodded, "Alright, then this is what's going to happen. You're going to go back. Two days from now you will be returning but do not make it seem as though it is of your own volition. You are going to be kidnapped."

Atani blinked but nodded in understanding, "Alright. Who's going to be kidnapping me?"

"You'll just have to wait and find out." He said with a smile.

He huffed and rolled his eyes, "Alright papa."

"Draco will bring your trunk back this summer."

Atani nodded and went to go curl up with Draco and sleep. He was looking forward to seeing what would happen and would be certain to put up a fight when they came for him. He wasn't about to go quietly and he wouldn't make their job easy but he was sure that they would manage to get him out of the school.

Two days after their return to school and it was time for Atani's 'kidnapping'. He had told Draco about it on the train ride back. As Atani and Draco slept curled together, a pair of wizards, cloaked in black, crept into their room. The peaceful pair were soon disturbed by the feeling of the covers being torn off. Atani let out a muffled cry as he was violently hauled from the bed, a hand clamped firmly over his mouth. Immediately he began to struggle, fighting against them as best and as hard as he could. His struggles were cut short with the utterance of a spell. As he fell into darkness the last things he saw were Draco being tucked back into bed, one of them fixing an injured hand, and the box that held his snake robe being pulled out of his trunk.

When he awoke he thought that it had all been a dream. He was surrounded by the familiar green and silver of the Slytherin dorm but a new color had been added, black, and the absence of Draco assured him that it hadn't all been a dream. The closer he looked around the room the more he was sure it hadn't all been a dream, nothing about the room was familiar, and he wondered where exactly he was.

A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts and he quickly found his voice, "Come in." He said calmly, looking at the door and waiting.

A man walked in after he spoke, he was sure it was a man by the figure as he couldn't see the face. He was dressed like a Death Eater except his mask was distinctly different. Instead of the normal pure white mast that he had see Lucius wear there was a diagonal black stripe on the left cheek.

"I see that you're awake young master, that's good. Your father has instructed me to bring you down for breakfast." He said, laying a green and black robe at the foot of the bed, "I shall be waiting outside for you to get dressed." With that he walked back out.

Not wanting to keep him waiting, Atani quickly changed, ran a comb through his hair, and stepped outside. The man was waiting, just as he said he'd be. Without a word he beckoned for him to follow and began walking down a long hall. The corridors twisted and turned as Atani was lead through the building. It was certainly a beautiful place; the carpets under his bare feet were plush and soft, there were paintings hanging on the wall, both portraits and places. Whoever designed this place had good taste. Finally they entered a dinning hall; his father was seated at the head of the table.

"Good morning Atani." He said, smiling at him.

"Morning papa, where are we?" He questioned, this was not the Malfoy's manor.

He smiled, "This is Slytherin's legacy. Our ancestor's home. We are quite safe here and no one's going to be finding you. Eat some breakfast then we'll talk about your training."

He nodded and began to eat. When he was finished he looked at his father, "Alright, what kind of training?"

"Everything you will need to know for the coming battle."

As he was about to continue Atani interrupted him, "Who's going to be training me?"

"I was just getting to that if you could wait and listen." He paused, "My elites shall be training you and you had better respect them. I'd better not get any bad reports." He said with a smile.

"Elites?"

He nodded, "Yes, you've already met one of them. Lucius had the opportunity to become one before Draco's birth but he wanted to be there for his son and I agreed with him."

"I'm glad you agreed with him." He smiled.

He paused for a moment, "I have seven elites but two of them are out on various tasks at the moment so you will only be meeting five of them. This is Seraph, he'll be taking you to where you are to be trained and introducing you to the others. Now come here and give me a hug and get going, you have a lot to learn still." He said, getting up. Atani smiled and got up, wrapping his arms around him and hugging him. Voldemort pet his hair for a little bit while they hugged before pulling back and kissing his forehead, "Get going and do what you're told."

Atani smiled before following Seraph out of the dinning hall. He was led to a back room and while Seraph went out Atani refused. He wasn't about to set foot into a snow covered courtyard barefooted. When Seraph realized Atani wasn't following he stopped and turned to face him.

"Well, come on." He said calmly, "Why did you stop?"

"I have no shoes on." He replied, "I have no desire to freeze in the snow."

He chuckled softly, "Well, that makes sense." He said, pulling out a pair of fur lined boots and a black fur lined cloak, "You'll need this as well." He said, handing them to him.

"Thank you." Atani said, donning the boots and cloak.

"Don't thank me." Came the reply as he took him into another building. Upon entering, Atani noticed four more Elites, each were dressed in a black robe and mask but each mask had black markings on it, "You will learn to tell us apart by our masks and voices, perhaps even by our footsteps in time." Seraph paused, "You already know my name but I am Seraph, the leader of the elites." He looked to one with a black mark down right cheek, the mirror image of Seraph's.

"I am Demay, Seraph's second in command."

"I am called Shadar." Another said, a mark down the middle of his mask.

The next who spoke hand a black line down the middle of each eye, "Kijan."

The final one had a black stripe, running diagonal from left to right over the white mask, "Nyhm." Came the one word reply.

"The other two are Synn and Aren." Seraph said, "You will be meeting them later. For now, we need to find out what you already know. We understand that you already have a vast knowledge of the dark arts and we also know what you have learned at Hogwarts thus far. We need to see where your natural talents lay so we can strengthen them."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He said when Seraph finally finished speaking, "As to what I do and do no know, how are you going to deduce that?" He questioned.

"Simple, we're going to test your knowledge. Similar to the OWLs that you would be taking this year at Hogwarts except that these won't be graded like they are. These will simply be used to find out how much work we have to do."

He nodded, "Are you going to have both written and practical or just one of the two?"

"Just practical." Seraph looked over at Demay, "Test his curses first?"

Demay nodded and got to his feet, "Come here Atani." He said, stepping outside, "I want to see all the dark curses you know." As he spoke he conjured a very lifelike dummy, "This will be your subject. You may begin when ready."

"I need my wand." He said, looking over at Demay with a raised eyebrow.

Seraph walked over and handed it to him, "Good thing Synn remembered to grab it."

Atani took it and began casting spell after spell. More than once Demay had to conjure a new one. When Atani cast the final spell he knew, the same one he had used on his father's diary during his second year, he collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

"I'm impressed." Demay sounded surprised, "I honestly didn't expect you to know that last one. Did Lucius teach you?" Atani nodded, "I thought so. What next Seraph?"

"Do you know any healing spells Atani?" Seraph asked, helping him up and giving him a glass of water.

"No, not really."

"What about potions?"

He took a drink of water, "Only what Snape taught us, I'm not too good at them, Draco always did most of the work."

"What about charms and transfiguration?"

"Oh, I'm good at those, well, charms at least. Defense Against the Dark Arts was my strongest subject at Hogwarts."

Seraph nodded, "Alright, I think that gives me a fair judge of what you can do. You won't really need potions, Aren will still teach you what he can of them if you'd like to learn. Demay, Synn, and I will be taking care of your combat training. Shadar, Kijan, and Nyhm will be taking care of everything else. We're not going to make this easy on you Atani but it will make you stronger and prepare you for what's to come." He paused, "Lessons begin first thing tomorrow. I believe Shadar wanted you first thing in the morning. I'm sure he will wake you up when it's time. I'll draw up a schedule and get it to you before bed. Now it's your time until nice. At nine you will be in bed."

Atani nodded, "I understand. Is there anywhere I can't go or shouldn't go?" He asked, finishing the water.

Seraph shook his head, "Not that I can think of, I'd ask your father for a more definite answer on that though."

"Thank you Seraph." He said before getting to his feet, "Do you know where I can find him?"

"He's usually in the library or his study at this time of day; you can try to find him there. His study and the library are in the west wing; get a house elf to show you exactly where."

He nodded and walked out, going in search of his father. It actually didn't take long for him to find the library on his own; in fact it was the first door he tried. Voldemort was sifting through a large stack of books when Atani walked in. He looked up when he heard the door open and smiled at him.

"So? How did it go?"

"They're actually kind of nice; I was expecting them to be mean." He smiled, sitting down in a chair, "Seraph said my training would start tomorrow morning with Shadar." Voldemort chuckled at that, "What?"

"Shadar gets…creative with his wake up calls sometimes. He's an early riser so expect to be woken up an hour or two after him. I told them not to wake you up before seven." He said, pulling out a book, looking at it, and setting it aside again.

"What are you looking for papa?"

He sighed, "I'm looking for a book I thought I had, obviously I can't find it, not really sure if I have it anymore or not. Your mother wrote it and I can't find the damn thing."

"My mother wrote a book?"

He nodded, "Yes, one on the Dark Arts. You should get some rest, I have a feeling tomorrow won't be an easy day. When I find the book I'll make sure you get to read it too."

Atani nodded and gave him a hug, "Thank you papa."

"You're welcome." He said, kissing his forehead, "If you're hungry you can get some lunch, there isn't really anywhere that's off limits here if you're wondering."

He nodded, "Thanks again papa." He said before going to find something to eat.