~Chapter 28~ Love Brings Hope – 10-11 March 1995

~Voldemort~

Voldemort nodded to the entity and hoped that he could sense his intentions of speaking to him once he figured something out. Death had hovered and tried to comfort Dimitri, but nothing had worked and the MoD had fallen into a restless sleep mere hours later. Yet he didn't risk speaking his request because Dimitri would want to know what he planned to do.

He carefully carried his mate to his rooms and set up some detection charms before he returned to his study. He'd wanted to surprise Dimitri with something previously, by making a deal with Death to bring back Dimitri's parents, but now it seemed like he would have to use it for something different.

Dimitri hadn't really known his parents, and he'd known his friends, but Voldemort was sure that Dimitri would find it extremely difficult to choose between the two without feeling guilty for failing one of them, so Voldemort wasn't going to inform him about the choice.

It was supposed to be Dimitri or Harry's birthday present once he turns 17, but he would find something else later, that is, if Death accepted his request.

First, he had a few stops to make though.

He removed his diary from its resting place and opened the pages before writing a small note inside of it. He was given a short reply in return before he closed the book and returned to Dimitri's room where he placed the diary beside his bed.

Hopefully, Dimitri would sense the Horcrux and think he was still in the house, but if not, then the diary would inform him that Voldemort had some business to take care of.

He grabbed a quick shower before putting on some of the traditional clothing the Lords wear. He needed to visit the Ministry as well.

Lucius had been placed in charge of delegating his forces while he'd been spending time with Dimitri and the man had made quite a bit of progress in getting the other Lords and Ladies to see their point of view now that Dumbledore was out of the picture.

The laws on creatures, whether dark or not, had slowly been lessening, but Voldemort had advised the creature races to still keep their heads down for now. They needed everything to happen slowly so that the rest of the Wizarding World wouldn't even really notice the changes until it merely becomes a way of life.

Society, as a whole, has become slightly more accepting of dark magic now that dark healers and warriors were revealing themselves bit by bit. In some cases, darker healing spells have been put in place as standard practice because of their ability to heal deeper and nastier wounds, faster.

He didn't even have to reveal himself and, for some reason, he preferred it that way, for now at least. It allowed him to spend more time with his mate.

His quick visit to the Ministry revealed that the prophecy that connected him and Harry Potter had exploded. Fortunately, the guardians of the prophecies didn't bother themselves with the outside world so he knew it was just another voided prophecy to them and they wouldn't even bother to inform the rest of the Ministry about it.

It is also how Dumbledore managed to keep the prophecy a secret for so long.

His next stop was Hogwarts and he couldn't deny that he was slightly apprehensive about it, but he needn't have worried because Severus noticed him standing at the gates and invited him inside. It seems that even Sirius had warmed up to him quite a bit after his help in finding Remus.

Salazar gave him one look before asking him to take a seat and the other two men soon caught on that this wasn't a social visit.

When he had their full attention, Voldemort took his ring, which he'd retrieved soon after receiving the diary, from his pocket. "I assume that Dimitri told you about the Horcruxes and their use?" The three men nodded, but they only glanced at the ring once before returning their attention to him.

"A little more than a week ago I was wondering about what I could actually do with Dumbledore…and no I did not kill him yet. He is still reliving the horrors from Dimitri's potion and I decided that revenge wasn't something I wanted anymore. I still want him dead, but in a way that would give something back to someone."

He paused as he saw the bewildered looks on Severus and Sirius' faces while Salazar simply looked thoughtful. "I was going to use his life in a ritual to bring back Dimitri's parents…but something happened last night and I now need to use it for something different."

Severus and Sirius seemed a little sad at that but Salazar indicated for him to continue. "Last night, Dimitri opened a message from Death and it was revealed that the original world that he'd come from…had been used as payment for him to be able to stay here."

The men looked at him in horror and he nodded, "He received a few last minute letters from his old friends before he learned that the entire world is gone, but if I can make a deal with Death, then he may be able to merge their consciousness with the people from this side and then he wouldn't feel that loss anymore.

Severus looked at him in confusion, "What do you need from us? Why didn't you do it already?"

Voldemort shrugged, "Because Dimitri would have my hide if I did something to affect your lives without asking for permission first."

The single sentence left the men speechless and Voldemort almost wanted to roll his eyes. It wasn't as if he didn't know how to ask for permission, he just never considered it necessary, but now it was important because it would keep his mate happy.

Severus regarded him closely, "From what he'd told me before, the memories would be quite a burden to bear, but it would allow us to understand him better, and to help him more, so I agree to do it. Besides, it's not like we haven't gone through a war before."

The other two men immediately nodded their agreement as well and Voldemort released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, "You do realize that we will also have memories of our deaths, right?"

Severus nodded while Sirius looked at him with wide eyes before he crossed his arms, "Harr-eh-Dimitri carries memories of his own death with him as well, and even if I don't know how my own death might affect me, I believe that he went through something much worse."

Voldemort and Severus narrowed their eyes in suspicion and turned to the man, but it was Salazar that spoke, "He is referring to the day you died. Dimitri probably didn't mention it because he knew how it would affect you if you knew, but, as your Horcrux, he allowed you to hit him with an Avada without knowing that there was a possibility that he would survive, and…Severus had been the one to give him the memory that informed him of the Horcrux."

Voldemort froze as his brain tried to comprehend the new information. He killed his mate…

Something inside him started clawing against his mental walls and he tried in vain to push it down as the words echoed in his mind. He killed his mate…he killed HIS mate…he KILLED his…

The voice was suddenly silenced and he blacked out for a moment before the world came into sharp focus once more. He felt a slight weight on his shoulder and he glanced up, right into Salazar's knowing gaze as the man removed his hand from Voldemort's shoulder.

He noticed that shadows had started pooling around him, but they were slowly receding and he took a deep breath to try and calm himself down even further. Salazar nodded and stepped away, but Voldemort noticed that the man still stayed close enough to subdue, what Voldemort assumed was his creature side.

Voldemort glanced to the side, only to find that Severus was taking the news almost as well as he had, and he grimaced, "If having his friends back will make Dimitri happy, then I am willing to deal with the memories…"

Salazar arched a brow at him, "Even if Dimitri would feel that it is his fault you are hurting once he finds out? And what about your creature? Sirius just spoke about what happened and already you were losing control…what will you do once you are faced with the actual images of the memories themselves?"

Voldemort grit his teeth as he glared at the man. He knew he was being unreasonable, but the man hadn't been the one to see Dimitri almost break earlier, "Then I will obliviate those memories from my mind."

Salazar sighed, but nodded and stepped back before turning to Severus, who was as pale as a sheet even with Sirius trying to comfort him. The other man then turned to Voldemort once more, "I assume you also want to inform Dimitri's current friends about what they might be experiencing soon?"

Voldemort nodded and followed the man out of their rooms to the DADA classroom. The man cast a Patronus to summon the group before he excused himself, probably to go comfort his mate.

The group in question immediately filed into the room, but they looked around in confusion once they saw him, though the youngest Malfoy paled quite a bit.

Voldemort was about to try and explain everything to the group, but then simply decided that his memories would suffice as he summoned a familiar penceive. He edited the memories quite a bit, of course, just to remove the slightly more intimate details. They were currently 15 years old after all.

The group warily lowered their heads into the penceive, and it didn't take too long for them to return, but instead of seeing expressions of fear, or anger, he saw that they all carried an air of determination about them and it was Draco that stepped forward, "My Lord, we may not have seen Harry in a while, and it may be a shock to find out that he is actually 29 years old, but he is still our friend and we would do anything to keep him happy."

The group gave a slight bow towards him, with Draco bowing slightly deeper, and Voldemort returned the gesture with a slight nod before they left the classroom once more.

Once they closed the door, Voldemort found himself glancing around the room. So many things had happened in the span of a few hours that his brain was only now starting to catch up on it all. He glanced around the room and wondered whether he would be able to summon Death to him. Would the entity be able to hear his thoughts?

The thought barely left his mind before the room thickened with shadows and Death revealed himself, "The ritual would work, but are you sure you want to go through with it? You do not know how this could affect the creature within you…"

Voldemort narrowed his eyes, "Does this mean that something bad is going to happen?"

The entity shook its head, "I do not know. The choices and consequences of this world have all faded into darkness. I will only be able to discern the consequences of your actions once the ritual is complete. It could very well be the catalyst that ends this world…or it could simply succeed without a problem, but I can tell you this, do not lose yourself."

With that, Death disappeared and Voldemort found that the room suddenly felt much colder than before.

He stood there for a couple more minutes, before leaving the classroom and making his way to the gate to apparate. He hoped that Dimitri was still asleep because his mind felt clouded and he needed some time to sort through his thoughts and feelings, but alas, the moment he opened the door, he saw Dimitri standing there with his arms crossed and a frown upon his face.

(A/N: Hope you enjoyed the update , you didn't really think I would kill off important characters like that, did you?)