~Chapter 29~ I Give My All – 11 March 1995-onwards

~Dimitri~

He knew that Voldemort was up to something. He'd seen the looks that the man kept giving Death even through the haze his mind seemed to be trapped in, but he'd let it go at first because Death would surely tell him if it was something dangerous, wouldn't he?

At first, he'd believed it, but then he woke up alone and remembered how Death had kept quiet about the future (now past) loss of his friends, and suddenly he didn't trust the entity so much anymore. The diary revealed that Voldemort had left to see to some business, but it wasn't able to reveal anything else, much to Dimitri's frustration.

He reached through their link and spotted glimpses of Salazar, Sirius, and Severus. Which wouldn't have been bad if Voldemort's sudden anguish didn't hit him like a punch in the gut.

But before he could apparate to Hogwarts, Voldemort suddenly calmed down and Dimitri just barely kept himself still by trying to focus on keeping his mind blank so that his thoughts and feelings didn't carry over to Voldemort as well.

They had already established that his side of the link was slightly stronger due to being a Horcrux for so long and he was currently very happy about it. Not that he liked spying on his mate, but this Voldemort was very different from the one in his old world and it sometimes worried him when he sensed how much Voldemort was willing to give up or do just to keep him happy.

A brief glimpse of his younger friends had him furrowing his brows before the usual feeling of apparition made his head spin and he quickly but carefully withdrew from the link.

He tried to pull up a smile as he walked toward the door before shaking his head at himself and crossing his arms instead. He wasn't a puppet stuck in the previous world anymore and hiding his doubts would probably only end up hurting his mate later on.

The door opened and Voldemort froze in the doorway when he saw Dimitri.

For a moment, Dimitri tried to find the words to reveal his thoughts, but then he noticed the strain in Voldemort's eyes and his thoughts quieted.

Instead, he wordlessly walked forward and slowly reached for the man's hand before weaving his fingers through Voldemort's and guiding him towards his bedroom. So far they hadn't really entered each other's rooms, well, except when Dimitri ended up falling asleep on the couch and Voldemort carried him to his room, but tonight it felt like his mate needed him close to him.

His thoughts proved right when Voldemort refused to let go of his hand as he magically removed Voldemort's shoes before pushing him down to rest, so he simply did the same with his own shoes and climbed onto the bed as well.

He laid his head on Voldemort's chest and listened to the erratic beating of his heart. The man seemed slightly hesitant to ask something and Dimitri gently squeezed his hand before burrowing deeper into his side.

"Why didn't you tell me that I killed you…"

Dimitri froze as the question registered in his mind and for a moment he relived the feeling of the Avada striking him in the chest. How had Voldemort found out about it? Had it been Salazar or Sirius that told him? They were the only people that had known, Sirius more accidentally than on purpose and Salazar simply because he'd been keeping a close eye on everything that was connected to his heir.

Voldemort let out a shaky breath next to him before he pushed himself up on his side while lightly pushing Dimitri down and parting his robes slightly with one hand before lifting the shirt he usually wore underneath, but the scar he was looking for was now a mere memory.

Dimitri slowly reached out to grasp his hand before placing it over his heart where the scar had previously been, "That wasn't you, and that version doesn't exist anymore."

Voldemort nodded slightly, but the pained expression on his face didn't soften at all, "It may not have been me but that doesn't mean that the memories of it simply went away for you."

Dimitri frowned in confusion, "If you are worried that I would get flashbacks from that time while being with you, well, it only happened the day we made the vow and you suddenly aimed your wand at me, but you had only seen me as a Horcrux at that time so it doesn't count."

Voldemort swallowed roughly as he laid back and pulled Dimitri tight against his side and Dimitri tilted his head so that he could semi-see the expressions on Voldemort's face, "Why are you suddenly so concerned about the memories from that day?"

Voldemort sighed and closed his eyes, "Because I had known about the death of the other Voldemort at your hands, but I thought that you'd somehow managed to remove the Horcrux from within you before it happened. From what you told me about your friends, I doubt that they'd simply let you walk to your doom."

Dimitri gave a sad smile, "No, they didn't. Most of the other people thought that I'd died while trying to run away from that fight, but I think my friends suspected something when Hagrid was forced to carry my body back to Hogwarts as proof that the Dark side had won. Fortunately, I seem to be the Bloody-Boy-That -Simply-Just-Wouldn't-Freaking-Die so it all worked out in the end, except for the other Voldemort's death of course."

Voldemort looked down at him and frowned, "You had no other choice but to kill him, there was no other way."

Dimitri sighed and nodded, he wasn't going to start the whole alternate universes vs. alternate timelines debate with Voldemort right now. Suddenly he felt a nudge at his side and focused on Voldemort once more.

The man seemed to want to ask something, but he seemed unsure of how to phrase it so Dimitri nudged him back and the man let out a breath and turned slightly towards him, "Why do you call me Voldemort if it could easily remind you of the other Voldemort?"

Dimitri cocked his head to the side in thought, "It is your name, or at least the one you chose for yourself, and you're wrong if you think that it reminds me of the other version of you. I know that you hate your other names, for what each of them represents, so I didn't want to call you by them and possibly bring up bad memories."

Voldemort gave him a faint smile before he shook his head, "You are the only one that has the right to call me by my other names. As much as I usually hated them, I have come to accept that they are a part of me and everything I am belongs to you."

Dimitri tried to clear his throat from the pressure that had suddenly built there and he gave the other man a playful nudge, "Don't say stuff like that, you're going to turn me into some kind of sap."

Voldemort's grin widened and he dropped a quick kiss onto Dimitri's forehead before he laid back once more. Suddenly the atmosphere turned serious, which made Dimitri shift uncomfortably, and even more so when Voldemort used his true name, "Harry…what would you do if we could merge the memories from the people in the world you lost, with this one?"

Dimitri's eyes widened and he sat up in shock, "W-what do you mean merge them?"

Voldemort tried to pull him back into his arms but Dimitri locked his body in place and stared at the other man until he sighed and nodded, "Exactly what I said. I already asked Death, but he is unsure whether it would work because the future seems cloudy after that. The people in the world you came from and this one share the same souls so if only the memories could be transferred then it should be possible to bring your friends back without losing your friends and family here. They would simply have both memories."

Dimitri frowned and shook his head, "Doing such a thing would have a high cost…"

Voldemort nodded, "Death said that Dumbledore's soul would be…enough of a payment to restore mere memories, or in this case, to transfer them."

For a moment Dimitri felt excited but he forced it down. Nothing could ever be that simple, there had to be another added price, one that Voldemort didn't want to reveal to him. He felt a hesitant nudge to his mind and he was almost tempted to reject it, but he allowed the voice in with a sigh, he couldn't stay angry at Death, not after recalling why the entity had kept the information from him in the first place, but that didn't mean the entity was off the hook just yet, "The added price that your mate doesn't want to reveal…you shouldn't worry about it, in fact, it might even help him regain the last bit of his power that has eluded him even after you used the Philosopher's Stone to fix his soul."

Harry frowned at that, but he mentally nodded at the entity, who seemed to relax slightly even though his shoulders still drooped.

If Dimitri had to make a comparison, it would be that Death looked like a scolded kitten after it went through all that trouble to catch a mouse to gift to its human. A sudden image of a black cat running around in Death's cloak with a scythe strapped to its back rushed through his mind and he quickly turned his attention back to Voldemort to stave off the almost hysterical laughter he could feel bubbling up at the back of his throat.

Voldemort was watching him closely, waiting for an answer, but Dimitri didn't know how to respond at all. Did he want to have his friends back? Of course! But it all sounded too convenient. A reminder of Voldemort's earlier anguish flashed through his mind and his eyes narrowed slightly as he closely watched the man's reaction to his next question, "Why were you hurting earlier?"

Voldemort's eyes widened before he tried to compose himself and Dimitri shook his head before the man could speak, "I want the truth, Tom. You can't expect me to agree to something that might hurt you."

Voldemort grimaced, "I didn't expect you to feel that, I thought you were still asleep."

Dimitri raised a brow at him in response and the man huffed before continuing, "Black revealed that you had died by my hand, and neither I nor my creature side liked the thought that we had harmed you. Salazar easily calmed me down though, so it's nothing to worry about and if it becomes a problem after the ritual then I will remove the memories from my mind. Or at least ask Salazar to do it."

Dimitri felt torn as he contemplated Voldemort's words. He remembered his earlier thoughts on how far Voldemort was willing to go, and Death had stated a few moments ago that the ritual may fully stabilize Voldemort's magic, but was it worth the risk?

From the determined set of the other man's shoulders, he wasn't going to give in so easily.

Dimitri sighed and nodded, "Fine, we can do the ritual, but I want you to tell me if there are any side effects." Voldemort grinned and Dimitri fixed him with a glare, "I mean it! Promise me."

The older man held his hands up in a sign of surrender, "I promise to tell you if I notice any side effects that we haven't already discussed."

Dimitri narrowed his eyes, "Nice try, but that promise includes the side effects we already discussed."

Voldemort seemed to deflate at that, but he nodded and pulled Dimitri back into his arms. "I promise to tell you if I notice anything, besides it's not like we would be able to do the ritual anytime soon. We need a total lunar eclipse for it to work so we still have some time to do more research on it. The next one is only supposed to be on the 27th of September next year."

Dimitri released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Having more time was a good thing. It would allow him to ensure that nothing went wrong.

~31 July 1995~

Dimitri rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he dragged himself out of bed before taking a quick shower. Voldemort had insisted that he take an afternoon nap while he was busy at the ministry.

Some of Dumbledore's machinations had come to light after the Goblins started auditing the accounts and many muggleborns suddenly found themselves in the care of pureblood families after it was discovered that they were related by blood, but only if they wanted to.

Not only that, heirs of numerous lines that were thought to have died out over the last 150 years or so suddenly found themselves called in, only to be informed that Dumbledore had kept information about their vaults from them in a bid to gain control of the vaults through fake wills after they died.

The information caused enough of an uproar that no one wanted to admit to being on Dumbledore's side and the light side 'fell' without any need for further bloodshed.

Dimitri glanced at the robes on his bed and shook his head fondly. It was clear that Voldemort had been plotting lately, but he hadn't expected it to revolve around his birthday. Unfortunately, he still had two years to go before the transformation ended, and to be honest, he was starting to miss his old form.

A knock echoed on the door and he glanced up to find a grinning Barty at the door, "Come on slowpoke, you're going to miss the party."