A Change of Heart.
Pairings: Well, most of the Slytherins & Death Eater with each other, at some point or another.
WARNING: DON'T READ THIS IF U IN ANY WAY LIKE SNAPE!!!!! ALSO IT WILL BE SLASH!
Rating: R
***
The Inner circle of Death Eaters all apparated into the garden of Riddle Manor, late on a summer's night. Lord Voldemort stood in the centre with a new masked Death Eater at his side.
Voldemort had changed a lot since Harry Potter had faced him in his fourth year. That had been 2 years ago and the Dark lord had been newly resurrected. The Voldemort of today resembled the handsome boy whom Harry had met in the Chamber of secrets; the Voldemort he had been before the-boy-who-lived had earned his name. The one that had stopped ageing at 20 and retained all of his looks.
None of the Death Eaters spoke but Voldemort motioned the boy at his side to a gap in the Circle. Then his voice rang out, echoing on the surrounding hills. " Lucius. I understand you have brought your son to join us."
A tall Death Eater with long blonde hair stepped forward. " Yes, master." He replied and gestured to the smaller boy next to him.
Voldemort turned his gaze to the boy. " Step forward." He commanded. The boy did.
" What is your name? How old are you?" The Dark Lord asked him.
" I am Draco William Malfoy. I am 16 years of age, my Lord." The blonde boy answered promptly. Voldemort looked Draco up and down, a smile appearing on his handsome lips. " Do you join us of your own free will? Will you walk with the Children of Death and do my bidding, now and forever?"
Draco smiled back and answered, " Yes, I join your Crusade with my free will. I will do your bidding… and give myself to you completely. For all eternity."
Voldemort's smile grew wider and he took a step towards Draco. He held Draco's chin in his hands and tilted the boy's head up. Draco met his eyes, boldly. " Yes. It is excellent to have such… enthusiastic young Death Eaters joining us. Please, hold out your arm."
Draco held out his arm. He had been waiting for this moment all of his life. The moment he was 16 and could receive the Dark Mark. Voldemort got out his wand and tapped Draco's arm with it. Draco bit his lip; his father had told him that this was painful. " Morsmordre!" The Dark Lord cried. Draco flinched and then jumped backwards- the pain was, indeed, worse than Crucio- and almost screamed aloud, but Voldemort lowered his mouth to the mark and kissed it. All pain ceased immediately.
Draco drew a shuddering breath. " Thank you, master." He whispered. Voldemort smirked at his new Death Eater and handed him a mask. " I expect great things from you, Draco Malfoy. Go, take you place next to your father." Draco bowed, then took a step backwards to join the Circle.
Now Voldemort looked around at his closest followers. " We have another Hogwarts student joining us tonight. One who no one would ever believe would ever join us of his own free will. Yet, last week he came here to find me. I don't know how he knew where I was – though it does raise the question of a possible traitor among us.
He told me he had had enough of fighting, of being scared every second. I, naturally, gave him Veritaserum to make sure he was not a spy from Dumbledore's Order. He was telling the truth. The person I thought least possible in the world to join the dark side, wants to become a Death Eater. I kept him here after last week, and he has…shown me, shall we say, that he really does want to join us. I have him here tonight, but I initiated him at a private circle."
Voldemort gestured to the boy who had entered the circle with him. The boy- who appeared to be around Draco's age-although he was wearing a mask, strode to the middle of the Circle and stood right in front of Voldemort. He didn't seem nervous at all. He nodded to Voldemort, who turned around to face his Death Eaters again.
A Death Eater with long black hair stepped forward. Voldemort glanced at him. " Yes, Severus?" He asked, rather coldly.
" Please…Master, could you tell us who this child is?"
Voldemort smiled- it was not a pleasant smile, and it meant only one thing.
" Dear, dear, Severus. Curiosity killed the cat, did it not?" Snape, behind his mask, looked quite terrified. " My Lord…please…I merely-"
But the Dark Lord cut him off with a sharp, "Crucio!" Snape fell to the floor, but didn't cry out. Voldemort lifted his wand and looked towards the boy, who nodded and addressed the other Death Eaters.
" I can get inside information, directly from the Order, as I am very involved in it. My first bit of proof is my telling you that this-" He walked over to Snape and kicked him. " This, is traitorous filth! He betrayed our cause! He has been giving information to Dumbledore for years!"
A sudden burst of chatter broke out among the Death Eaters. Then, Lucius Malfoy stepped forwards. " Boy! How do we know that Snape is a traitor? You could be lying!"
The boy looked at Lucius. " That is true. But, our Lord believes me, and that should be proof enough for every one of you. If it isn't, then you clearly aren't loyal to him!"
Lucius backed away, not wanting to argue with his Lord or this boy, whom Voldemort seemed to favour.
Voldemort smiled at the boy and laid a hand on his shoulder. " He is quite right, Snape is indeed a traitor. I have evidence to prove it. As to the identity of this boy, does anybody else which to ask me about it?"
The Dark lord glared around dangerously. " No? I thought not. He has good reason to remain anonymous for the time being – and, no, I will not be telling you any of those reasons."
The mystery boy, meanwhile, had walked over to Snape and bent down next to him. The whole thing seemed to have been planned out before.
The boy whispered something to Snape. The traitor gasped in shock and tried to say something. " No you don't. You aren't going to report me to the Mudblood-lover."
He glanced to Voldemort, who nodded, apparently giving his approval on something.
" Any last words, Severus?" The boy asked sarcastically. Snape just shook his head. " What happened to you?" He whispered, not expecting an answer.
The boy smirked at him and said, clearly, "Lord Voldemort happened to me. AVADA KEDAVRA!"
There was a flash of green light and Snape fell back, lifeless. The boy brushed his wand on his robes and casually turned to face Voldemort. The Evil lord nodded to him and the boy went over and lent his head on his lord's shoulder.
" Good boy." Voldemort praised, turning his head to kiss the boy on the lips.
The Dark Lord then turned back to the Death Eaters, who didn't seem in the least bothered by this behaviour. Clearly, this sort of thing was a regular occurrence in the Inner Circle.
" Lucius." Voldemort said. Malfoy stepped forward.
" Yes master." He replied.
" I have a job for you and Draco. I want you to take this boy home with you and look after him for the summer. His old placement is not suitable and, as much as I regret it, he cannot permanently stay here with me. For reasons he will tell you when you get to the Manor." Voldemort ordered.
Lucius bowed and then looked straight at Voldemort. He glanced nervously at the dead Snape then cleared his throat. " Forgive me, my Lord, but if I am to take this child into my care, could I at least, know his name?"
The Dark lord didn't look angry. In fact, he seemed amused. " It's brilliant to have such brave Death Eaters. However, it's not my choice to make. If the boy wishes you to learn his identity, he shall tell you. When you get to the Manor, of course."
Lucius, and Draco who was standing beside him, both nodded, excepting this answer.
Voldemort glared at the other Death Eaters, who all apparated away immediately. He smiled at Lucius who went to his lord's side immediately.
" Tom, is he a favourite?" The blonde Death Eater asked, showing none of the hesitance he had when the others were present. Voldemort smirked.
" Don't be jealous, Lucius. There is plenty of me to go around. Besides, I'll let you play with him." He added. Then he wrapped his arms around his lover (AN: Lucius, if your confused) and kissed him fully on the lips.
After a moment, he turned his attention to the boy. " Now," He began, in the tone of an adult instructing a small child, " you need to be good. Get on with Lucius and Draco. I will visit you often. And, of course, we'll see each other at meetings."
He then lent down and whispered something in the boy's ear the made him flush behind his mask. He nodded and kissed his Lord goodbye. Then he went to stand with Lucius and Draco.
They all apparated back to Malfoy Manor on their Lord's command. Once inside, Lucius turned immediately to the boy. Draco stood some way of, unsure of how his father would act.
The boy, however, seemed oblivious to the fact that a powerful Death Eater was glaring at him in a manner that would have made most run and hide. Draco included.
He looked around at the paintings before turning back to Lucius. " Mr. Malfoy. It's very kind of you to let me stay here. May I ask a question?" He asked. Lucius seemed rather amazed and just murmured, " Any fortunate whom our Lord favours, is welcome in my home. You may ask your question."
The boy looked to Draco and back at Lucius. Draco was reminded that this boy was a student, somebody he most likely knew. " Forgive me, but what happened to your wife, Sir?" The boy asked. Draco gaped at him, mouth open wide. Did this boy want to get a beating?
Lucius, though, gave a small chuckle. " No wonder Voldemort likes you. You are incredibly brave. Narcissa died 2 years ago. She cursed 5 Mudbloods and Dumbledore got onto her. She was sentenced to the Dementors kiss. She passed away soon afterwards."
Draco gave a kind of sob, though he'd never been close to his mother, the kiss was the worst way to go.
The boy looked down. " I am sorry, Sir. Draco." Then he looked up. " I suppose I should tell you who I am. It will be a shock, though."
Lucius smiled at him. " Go ahead, surprise me." The boy nodded and slowly took his mask off. Draco gave a gasp, tried to stutter something then gave up and lapsed into silence. Lucius tilted his head, eyes wide. Both rather speechless, for once.
For the boy in front of them was none other than Harry Potter.
***
AN: Alright then. This has been written for ages but I've only just got the courage to post it. Please be nice, this is the first slash piece I've ever posted!
I know Harry is almost completely OOC, but I've a soft spot for Evil! Harry, and hopefully his actions will become clearer soon.
I've added most OotP things afterwards so they may not exactly fit. The main thing is Sirius is still alive cos I don't have the heart to kill him off.
Well, all that said, please review!!!!
_ Ami xxx