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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters...

September was drawing closer, and Harry had yet to hear from Voldemort. He knew the Dark Lord had received his letter-Dobby had told him as much, having remained behind to watch the man read it. The House-Elf had also informed him that Voldemort appeared to have taken it pretty seriously, reading it all the way through before even reacting to it, and even then, all he had done was laugh before folding the letter, placing it back in its envelope, sliding it into his pocket, and then getting up and leaving the room.

The fact that the letter hadn't been destroyed was a good sign, according to both Ron and Hermione. Even if the Dark Lord didn't respond immediately, he, at least, wasn't completely ignoring it. Hermione claimed it was more likely that the man was actually thinking and considering things, probably trying to work out the pros and cons to this entire situation-whether it was worth his time to write back or not.

That made sense to Harry, so, needing to lay low for a while, since their group had been pretty active recently, he and Ron enjoyed their summer like regular teenage boys would do-reluctantly working on summer homework, and playing a lot of Quidditch out back, while Ron talked about girls, and Harry made it sound like he himself was talking about girls, even though he really wasn't, which amused his best friend to no end...

And it was on the final day of August, when Harry was finding his things to pack his trunk in preparation for tomorrow, that he came across an envelope that had been hidden in one of his Defence textbooks that had been sitting on the kitchen table. Huh...

Making sure he was alone, he slit the envelope open, pulled out the sheet of parchment, unfolded it, and quickly scanned through it. His brow rose in surprise. It seemed Voldemort had actually replied to his letter. Well then, this he most certainly had to read.

With the Burrow now acting as the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, which held meetings at odd times, there was no telling what sort of spells, monitoring or not, would be active throughout the house, whether it be day or night. Especially with Dumbledore calling the shots and all.

Harry wanted to go through the letter alone, before informing Ron about it, and with his friend having a...private moment with himself, Harry couldn't exactly go around calling for Dobby up there. And since there was a meeting today, the house was packed with people, nearly all of whom were active Order members, who had split into multiple groups, situating themselves in various rooms to pass time until said meeting began. Because of this, Harry was able to think of only one place where he could go be alone, while being guaranteed full privacy, even from spells...and promptly locked himself up in the loo.

Raven Serpent,

It seems that with a single letter, you have accomplished something near impossible-you have succeeded in catching my interest. While I, admittedly and unsurprisingly, do not trust you in any fashion, I am curious enough to reply to you. The fact that you even had the courage to pen that first letter is surprising, I must say.

You have learned of my Horcruxes, have you? An impressive feat indeed. That you know what they even are is astounding in itself. Very, very few even know what they are called. Tell me, did you learn of them yourself, or was it something that you were told of by another? And I am hardly concerned that you will destroy my Horcruxes. Knowing how to do so is one thing, knowing how many I have made, discovering what they are, and finding them in those areas, are a whole other endeavour.

I am not particularly surprised that you and your associates wish to 'defect' as you put it. A fair few do, once they begin learning what the Light is truly about. However, do you simply wish to join my side because we are against the Light? Or are you actually aware of what our goals are?

As you insist,
Crimson Phantom

Harry hummed low in his throat as he reached the end of the letter. So Hermione and Ron had been right after all. The man was curious, but skeptical, and Harry supposed he couldn't really blame him for that. The letter had ended with a question, and the teen had a feeling the Dark Lord wasn't going to write anything more until he himself replied back first. Whatever he answered with now would decide whether Voldemort would continue this correspondence, or ignore them...

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna were seated in a compartment on the Hogwarts express, finally heading back to school. Harry had filled Hermione, Neville and Luna in on what had been happening, and showed them all Voldemort's letter.

"I definitely think this might be our only chance," said the bushy haired witch. "He's too cautious. If you don't manage to properly get his attention now, he'll either try to track you down, or just full out ignore you." She cocked her head. "Although, I suppose he'll try to track you down regardless. I have no doubt he'll want to know who exactly you are."

That was a fair point, and pretty much what Harry had been thinking himself. In some ways, heading back to Hogwarts made things easier for them, but in other ways, made things much harder.

"I'll write back to him," Harry spoke after a pause, "and keep using Dobby too. Dumbledore won't expect that, and you know he'll be keeping a close eye on me. And judging by his behaviour when he brought me to the Burrow, so will Snape, though maybe for different reasons."

Ron frowned, leaned back in his seat, and fingered the Chocolate Frog card he was holding. "Snape, huh?" His brow creased. "Wonder whose side he's really on?"

"It's hard to say," Hermione replied with a sigh. "Most often, it does seem like he's with the Light, but...we do know he at least used to be a Death Eater. We know he's a spy too, and we also know Voldemort holds him in high regard-that's how he's able to get so much information."

"He could just be using both sides. Maybe he's waiting to see which one will benefit him more?"

"That's a fair point, and certainly an option, but I don't think there's really a way of knowing for sure."

"Well, not without asking him about it himself, which we obviously aren't about to do just yet..."

"What are you going to do about the DA, Harry?" Neville asked suddenly.

Ron's eyes widened. "Right. Umbridge should be gone now, sick bitch."

Harry dragged his fingers through his hair. "The point of the DA was to make up for her shit lessons," he said, "but- Do any of you know who the Defence professor is going to be this year?" he asked his friends.

All of them shook their heads.

"Dumbledore never said a thing when anyone asked him, according to the twins," said Ron.

Harry inclined his head in understanding. "Then whether or not the DA continues on will most likely depend on who the new professor might be. If they're as bad as Umbridge-which should be impossible, then it may restart. Otherwise, it'll depend on my workload. Classes aren't the only thing we're concerned with anymore."

That was a fair point. While the DA would help a small number of people, resolving the war was far more important than that right now. And with Harry the leader of both this third secret side, and the DA, it all depend on how much time he had, or how much he could handle at once.

"I enjoyed the DA," said Luna suddenly. "I hope it can continue."

Harry simply smiled.

The students reached Hogwarts without incident, and everyone settled at their respective House Tables, waiting for the first years to arrive so that the Sorting could begin. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville (Luna now at Ravenclaw Table, away from them), knew not to speak of anything they didn't want people hearing, and casually discussed their OWL results. With the way Ginny turned her body slightly towards them, they knew she was listening too, even though she wasn't actually facing them. Wow, how subtle.

"Well well well," Harry voiced suddenly. He gestured towards the Head Table. "Check out the new Defence professor."

The others looked. There was only one new face up at that table. A new face that wasn't actually a new face at all.

Ron whistled. "Lucius Malfoy, huh? Wonder if that's a good idea."

"It's hard to say," Hermione replied, raising a goblet to her lips to sip some water. "With him, things could go either way."

"Yeah," Neville agreed. "We know who he really works for, even if he won't actually admit it. Things could go bad with him around, depending."

They weren't saying anything outright. Didn't want to say anything outright. There were too many people around to hear them. But they knew how to be somewhat subtle. Those listening in would assume they meant something entirely different.

"What do you think, Harry?" Ron inquired of his best friend.

Harry frowned, green eyes on the platinum haired man seated up at the Staff Table beside Snape. "I think we're going to have to rethink things."

And that's it for now. I'd have more to say, but my head currently feels like it's exploding, partly because I'm dehydrated, and partly because I actually managed to sleep for more than six hours last night-that's more than the past three days combined. I'd call it a miracle if I believed in those. Anyway, looking forward to reviews! Laterz!