~Chapter 25~ Meeting the future in-laws – 2 March 1995

~Voldemort~

Voldemort thought he'd known what to expect as they apparated to the gates of the castle, but a sulking, green-haired Sirius Black with his hands crossed before him, and Severus leaning back against a tree with a pleased-looking shark-like grin on his face, definitely wasn't it.

Next to them stood a tall, dark-haired man that clearly wasn't Gilderoy Lockhart, meaning that it could only be Salazar Slytherin who had forgone his disguise in Dumbledore's absence. The man looked quite exasperated at his mates' antics, but there was also a fond look in his eyes that he didn't even try to hide.

Voldemort felt a tug on his arm before Dimitri was rushing off to hug his godfathers, and Voldemort took note of how the three men's faces brightened at the sight of the young man.

A sense of yearning rushed through his body before he could stop it and he quickly tried to shove it down, it wouldn't do to dwell on what could have been in the past.

But his link with Dimitri had the young man freezing in his tracks before turning back and stomping over to the Dark Lord with an exasperated expression of his own as he grabbed Voldemort's arm and lightly dragged him towards the other three men, "Just so you know, I don't plan on letting you go and they will technically be your in-laws once I come of age so you might as well get used to having a family. Besides, you are also meeting your last living family member, not just mine."

Voldemort's head snapped back towards the Founder as he realized that Dimitri was right. Even if they were separated by centuries, Salazar Slytherin was indeed family.

They approached the three men and Voldemort was surprised to see the same longing mirrored in the Founder's eyes as he glanced at him. It seems he wasn't the only one that craved a familial connection with someone. That alone calmed him and he lightly squeezed Dimitri's hand in thanks.

Sirius and Severus watched him warily as he approached and Voldemort held out his hand in a familiar gesture that had Severus slightly paling, yet still stepping forward and holding out his arm.

Voldemort was aware of Sirius and Salazar backing down as Dimitri smiled to reassure them when they stepped forward to defend their mate.

After casting a dome of privacy around the group, Voldemort lightly grasped the other man's arm and turned it slightly, "I can only think of one way to repay you for your aid throughout these years, but you will always be welcomed". He pulled up Severus' sleeve and lightly hissed at the mark, causing the other man to gasp as the mark peeled itself off before scattering into ashes around them.

Nothing more needed to be said as Severus nodded his thanks with a slight bow, and Salazar finally stepped forward to break the tension, "I believe we have much to discuss and to my knowledge, you haven't managed to find my hidden chambers yet. Come."

Voldemort frowned in confusion and glanced at Dimitri, who shrugged. Even Sirius and Severus were looking at the man as if he'd grown a second head and Salazar grinned, "The Chamber of Secrets had actually been a project that Godric had dragged Rowena and Helga into making with him because I tended to leave Selene to guard my brewing rooms while I was busy. Unfortunately, my rooms had been in the middle of the castle at that time and it had stopped many students from getting to their classes because they were too scared to pass by her."

Voldemort could easily picture something like that and Dimitri burst out laughing next to him. The Founder nodded and Voldemort broke the dome of privacy as they made their way into the castle. They soon found themselves at the Astronomy tower and all four men looked around curiously as the Salazar stepped towards the middle of the room.

He gave a soft hiss and suddenly a wall opened up next to the door. Voldemort was surprised to find steps leading down once more, almost following the other staircase, before opening into a hallway of sorts as they followed the older man. Salazar must have felt their confusion because he pointed toward the plants that lined the area, "This is where I kept the plants that can only absorb the moonlight, hence the easy access to the Astronomy tower. None of the elves are allowed here so I can only guess that Godric had taken to tending for them in my absence."

Voldemort looked at the rest of the group and only Dimitri seemed to know to whom the man was referring. Surely they would have known if the Gryffindor founder was still around? Dumbledore certainly wouldn't have been able to stop himself from elevating his beloved Gryffindors even more.

As if on cue, Peeves appeared behind Salazar with a bucket full of a suspiciously gooey substance that he moved to tip over the man's head, but nothing came out even when he tried to shake it and Salazar gave a fond chuckle as he turned to the ghost, "Godric, I see you finally got into tending the plants?"

The ghost stuck his tongue out before levitating the bucket and crossing his arms, "If I hadn't then everything would have gone to waste, and then I'd have Helga on my back as well…" The ghost shuddered and glanced around the group before his eyes landed on Dimitri and his demeanor visibly brightened, "Have you managed to find the Gryffindor rooms yet? It would be a shame to let it go to waste!"

With that, the ghost started guiding Dimitri away, and Voldemort was slightly confused until he turned to find the other men looking at him. Salazar turned and let them into a spacious living room where the fire had already been lit and they all took a seat, although Voldemort couldn't shake the feeling that everything had become much more serious all of a sudden.

He almost wanted to call Dimitri back, but he'd expected something like this to happen so he forcefully calmed himself. They sat like that in silence with the three men looking at him and Voldemort almost believed that this was what it would feel like to stand before a muggle firing squad.

It was Sirius that broke the tense atmosphere though as the man let out a laugh before slapping a hand over his mouth. Voldemort could see that Severus tried to look annoyed, but the man must have expected it so he merely shook his head and sat back on the couch.

Salazar cleared his throat and Voldemort turned his attention towards him, "It seems that you already know who Dimitri truly is…"

Voldemort nodded and waited for the man to elaborate, it was Severus that spoke next though, "How did you find out?"

Voldemort thought for a bit, "I first figured out that he was Ghost because he wore one of the bracelets that I'd gifted to him, after that we spoke and he kept referring to Harry Potter in ways that spoke about his thoughts and feelings. The past he described to me also mirrored Harry's so I figured it wouldn't be too far-fetched. After that, I accidentally reconnected with the Horcrux in his scar and it established a connection between us."

Salazar froze at this, but Voldemort shook his head, "It won't harm him because my soul is already whole, and the sliver that remains is simply that, a small piece, but I will find a way to remove it if that is what he wants…"

"No, you won't and no, I don't." The group turned to find that Dimitri had managed to escape the overenthusiastic ghost and he made his way over to sit beside Voldemort.

Voldemort almost grinned at the glare the teen gave his godparents as if he suspected that they'd been the ones to urge the ghost into distracting him, but then the glare turned to him as well and he had to fight the sudden urge to fidget.

The young man sat back with his arms crossed, "I already knew that a link would be established and unless you want to leave a hole in my soul which will force me to go back in time, again, to fix it…this will be the last time I hear of this."

The four men quickly nodded their heads in agreement and Dimitri huffed before glancing at Sirius and changing the subject, "Any luck on finding Remus? I pestered Death again, but he wouldn't tell me where he was, only that I would find out when the time was right."

The man shook his head sadly, even as Severus and Salazar mirrored his movements. Salazar glared at the floor, "Even with my shadows I cannot seem to track him down so there must be a powerful spell around your friend."

Voldemort frowned before looking at Dimitri, "Are you speaking about Remus Lupin by any chance?"

He immediately felt all eyes on him and he had a feeling that he had to choose his next words carefully, "Fenrir send me a letter during our last meeting about a month ago. He'd been unable to leave the compound after stumbling upon one of his lost pups, and stated that the man had been poisoned by consuming too much wolfsbane. He didn't know whether it had been self-inflicted or not, but he'd stated that the man is still in a healing sleep in his last letter about a week ago."

As expected, Dimitri immediately jumped up along with Sirius, but Salazar and Severus grabbed their mate while Voldemort did the same with his own by settling the young man on his lap. Dimitri struggled for a bit, but Voldemort shook his head and he stilled, "During a healing sleep, only the pack healer and the patient's mate are allowed to be close to them because they know how to completely erase their energies, while still offering comfort as pack members. If you were to simply barge in there, it might just kill him, depending on how far he's come with the healing up until now."

Dimitri sagged against him and Voldemort suddenly worried about the guilt he felt across their link. Surely his mate didn't think…but of course, he did. Voldemort grimaced before giving in to the urge to flick the other man on the forehead, "It's not your fault no matter how you want to spin it, but if it will make you feel better I will write a letter to Fenrir and request an update. Who knows, maybe he's already awake."

Dimitri nodded gratefully, but Voldemort could see that his mate seemed preoccupied. He glanced at Salazar and the Founder nodded. Apparently, the Founder had noticed the same thing he did and as much as he wanted to talk with the man, they had their mates to take care of first.

It was only as they arrived home that Dimitri seemed to snap out of his thoughts and he stilled and looked around him as if he'd been on auto-pilot up until now. His eyes became almost comically wide as he turned towards Voldemort, "But you still wanted to speak with Salazar and…"

Voldemort shook his head, "I can go and speak to the man at any time, but at the moment you need me so let's go write that letter. We might even receive a response tonight if we hurry."

Dimitri nodded gratefully before rushing toward the study, leaving Voldemort to his thoughts as he followed his mate at a slower pace.

(A/N: I was honestly struggling with this chapter. Things aren't currently going so well IRL so maybe that's just what's bringing me down. I knew what I wanted to write but it didn't seem to flow so well. Hope it isn't too disappointing but I hope to be back to my cheerful self again with the next update.)