Walking with steady strides, Tom entered the Ministry and smiled at the welcoming banner. Most of his new employees where standing around the fountain, waiting eagerly for a glimpse of him.
"We've got time for greetings," Abraxas informed the Dark Lord as he went over the schedule in his hands. The Minister nodded at him before stopping in front of the mass.
"I'm glad to see all of you here today," he smiled his charming smile and noted a couple of witches melt. He exchanged pleasantries for ten minutes before his right hand man told him their time was up. "Until next time," the politician said his goodbye before walking towards the lift. Once inside Abraxas pushed the upper button and in silence they ascended. The lift opened to reveal Coraline and Ms Grelyon. Ms Mabel rushed towards them and seemed ready to hug Tom but Malfoy stepped between them.
"Just the person I was looking for," the blond coldly smiled and the woman faltered.
"Ms Grelyon," the greyish eyes looked at the older woman, "could you please show the Minister his office?" The grey haired woman nodded and gave her colleague a short look with a hint of satisfaction. The Dark Lord could see the understanding in the older woman's eyes and smirked.
"Please, follow me, Minister," she politely addressed him before briskly turning around and going ahead.
"Tom?" Coraline asked uncertain but the politician ignored her.
"Ms Mabel," he could hear Abraxas start as he entered his new office.
"Mr Stormlin will be here in the afternoon to try and convince you to continue with his projects," Ms Grelyon didn't gloss over her words, which Tom could appreciate. It was clear why the woman had held her post for so long, even with the young Coraline preying on her job. It must have been a slap in the face to have the young woman get a – newly created – job beside her only to please Mr Stormlin's sexual urges. "The drawers on the right side of the desk have a magical lock," the witch opened the drawers with her wand. "They've been set to default so you can change the password." The Minister nodded intrigued and followed the woman to the small cabinet against the wall behind the desk. "All files are kept inside here," she opened it and pointed to a narrow strip of wood on the side with the alphabet painted on it. "They are stored alphabetically," she pointed her wand to the strip. "C," she opened the C pocket and another strip of wood appeared beside a multiple of files. "From here you can manually search or again with the help of the table of contents." Tom nodded interested. This was a system especially designed for the Ministry years ago and still worked very practical till this day. Which was the reason it hadn't been changed to one of the more modern version on the market. "Also-"
"Tom!" Coraline hysterically stormed in the office. "Malfoy has made a mistake!" she said the blond's name with utter distaste.
"Really now," Tom sighed annoyed before turning towards the woman.
"Yes, he says I'm being demoted to public affairs?!" A quick smirk appeared on Ms Grelyon's face.
"He hasn't made a mistake," the Dark Lord stated with bored eyes and Coraline looked at him in disbelieve.
"But… you need me."
"Ms Grelyon is capable enough to do the work on her own and Abraxas will help her," Tom told her off. "I don't need three assistants and as you are the less qualified, the choice was easy." The woman seemed on the verge of tears.
"But… Tom-"
"No buts, Coraline," he gave her a stern look. "Abraxas will guide you to your new department," he signalled the blond to get rid of the woman.
"Come, Ms Mabel, people are waiting on you," Malfoy grabbed Coraline's wrist and pulled her out of the Dark Lord's office. Tom turned back to Ms Grelyon and could see the satisfaction on her face. They shared an understanding smirk before the woman continued her tour all professionally.
-THTH-
"This is weird," Harry whispered to Tom while looking at Tobias Snape and Eileen Prince.
"Correct," the Dark Lord agreed as Eileen threw her bouquet over her shoulder.
"The first time we meet them is on their wedding day." A teenager caught the flowers.
"It would be odd if the godfather of their child wasn't present at their wedding," the politician explained as he raised his glass of wine to Madam Prince.
"Like it would be some stranger," the Auror mumbled and brown eyes glanced at him.
"We have time to change that." A smile bloomed on the youngster's face.
"Yes, we do, don't we?"
"Excuse me," an experienced voice asked for their attention.
"Mr Snape," Tom greeted Tobias' father friendly.
"I heard you're friends of Alexandria," the man continued with a suspicious look on his face.
'I see were Snape got his looks from,' Harry's mind supplied.
"You work for the government?" The Dark Lord smiled politely.
"Yes, behind the scenes," the two years running Minister kept to their cover story.
"And you?" Mr Snape turned to the Auror.
"I'm in security," the youngster kept a friendly smile on his face.
"An agent?"
"Something like that." The muggle gave him an odd stare.
"Are you an agent or not? It's not a difficult question," his voice dropped to a stern tone. Tom wanted to intervene, but Harry touched his arm to stop him.
"I'm an agent specialised in certain subjects I'm not allowed to discuss, making me more than a normal agent." His green eyes pierced the onyx ones of Severus' grandfather and seemed to win.
"I see," Mr Snape admitted his defeat and the Auror gave him a cold smile.
"You're not interrogating my friends, are you?" Madam Prince suddenly stood behind Mr Snape, who lightly jumped in surprise.
"Of course not, Alexandria," he smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes at her. "If you would excuse me." And gone was he.
"Thank you," Tom politely said to the old woman, who waved it away.
"Don't be, that man doesn't trust us for one bit. Not that I can blame him, we are hiding something major," Madam Prince shrugged. "The only reason he's present is because it would look bad on him if we stood behind the marriage and he didn't."
"His son is getting married," Harry said full disbelieve and the old woman turned to him.
"Yes, but their relationship isn't that great. Hasn't been since Tobias' mother died," she shook her head sadly. "And of course he doesn't like Eileen." Rolling her eyes, she sent a short glare at the man's back. "I doubt he'll keep in touch," she mumbled before shaking her head again.
'Wasn't she the one, who was going to throw out Eileen if she married a muggle?' the youngster sarcastically thought, but wisely chose to keep his mouth shut. 'Severus' life will be better this time around,' he nodded to himself and Tom glanced at him.
"How is the godfather project coming along?" Madam Prince asked what she really wanted to know by the look in her eyes.
"It will be presented to the board next Monday."
"And it'll pass?"
"Of course," the Minister smiled charmingly.
"Grandmother?" Eileen shyly asked for Madam Prince's attention.
"My dear," the old woman turned around, "have you met these two men already?" Without waiting for an answer Madam Prince pulled the woman beside her. "These are Tom Riddle, our new Minister and his spouse Marvolo Remus, an Auror, my dears," she turned to the men, "this is my granddaughter."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Eileen politely said as she raised her hand, but all of her shyness was instantaneously gone and replace by a hard exterior.
"Likewise." Tom lightly kissed the back of the woman's hand, a behaviour Harry quickly repeated as it seemed expected.
"It's a beautiful wedding, with a beautiful bride," the youngster complemented even if the woman didn't pick his fancy at all. She looked too much like Snape. 'I can understand why Ignatius didn't want to marry her, Lisabelle is gorgeous beside her.'
"Thank you for the complement," Eileen stated monotone as her husband joined them. He laid his hand on her back and she seemed to melt where she stood. 'They do love each other,' he couldn't help but take Tom's hand in his. The politician looked surprised at him as they weren't supposed to be showing affection in the presence of muggles. 'Snape was capable of loving someone deeply,' the Auror remembered his mother. 'He must have gotten that from them,' he sighed romantically.
"Marvolo?" Tom whispered in a low tone and the youngster shot out of his thoughts.
"Sorry," he quickly realized his mistake and released the hand. "Lost in thought," he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he looked around them to see if any muggles noticed. Tobias couldn't have missed it and gave them an odd look, before his wife whispered something in his ear and his expression turned neutral again.
"Weddings do bring out the romantic side of people, don't they?" Madam Prince smirked and Harry quickly nodded his agreement.
"Could the newlywed couple come to the dance floor for their first dance?" a man interrupted them and Eileen was quick to pull Tobias with her.
"How is he taking it?" the Auror asked Madam Prince as he watched Severus' parents and got a questioning look. "You know, us," he clarified while waving between the three of them.
"Oh," the old woman's eyes moved to her granddaughter in the embrace of her husband, "he still has trouble believing it and clearly isn't a fan," she shook her head. "But he knows his children will probably have it too and knows he needs us," she shrugged.
"He's a realist," Tom added and Madam Prince nodded.
"I'll admit Eileen could have fallen for someone worse," the old woman spoke probably the only complement she would ever give Tobias. "Please excuse me," she waved at someone nearby before nodding a goodbye at them and leaving.
"She doesn't look that healthy," Harry mumbled in a whisper to Tom, who nodded.
"She's an old woman," the Dark Lord only answered and together they watched her cough lightly before starting a conversation with the person she had waved to.
-THTH-
Tired Harry flopped down on the couch and stretched his arms over his head. Tom quietly sat down beside him after shedding the robe - which had been charmed to look like a muggle coat not a minute ago - he had been wearing. "That was interesting," he stated and got a grin from the youngster.
"A normal muggle marriage is different from a wizard one," the Auror agreed and a comfortable silence settled between them. "They did look happy," Harry eventually mumbled as he remembered the intimate looks shared between the newlywed couple.
"Everyone got what they wanted," the Minister shrugged and his arm draped over the back of the couch. Having the other's neck in reach he started petting it lightly and the youngster automatically leaned into him.
"It's for the best," Harry tiredly smiled and leaned towards the other to press a kiss to his lips. The kiss was short but sweet and the moment the Auror pulled back the Dark Lord dived back forward to repeat the gesture, but got interrupted by the sudden entrance of Abraxas.
"My Lord! Finally, where in Merlin's name were you?" the blonde called out with a fretting Dopper behind him.
"I haven't announced you to the Masters yet! Dopper's sorry, Masters!" Harry signalled to the elf that it didn't matter as he followed the Minister's example, straightening himself.
"The Prince's marriage was today," Tom explained as he frowned at Malfoy. His right hand man knew his schedule all too well. A normal situation would deserve a glare, but this was clearly not a normal situation.
"We've been betrayed!" Abraxas dropped the bomb. "Auror Duchestry is a spy for a Dark organization!"
-THTH-
"He's been sighted in muggle London," Harold continued as he flipped through the pages in his hand. "Clearly, he's trying to hide from us by mingling with muggles," he ended before looking up at the person he was reporting too. The Minister sat behind his desk and pulled a pensive look.
"We need a way to paralyse him before he can start killing," Harry stated angry and Tom laid his hand on his to calm him down.
"Duchestry has been slipping through every one of our attempts. We can't forget that he's an Auror. He knows all of our tricks," Martin Doyle grumbled madly.
"Also he has enough connections with dark wizards to disappear forever, which he's probably preparing for," the Dark Lord calmly stated as the youngster squeezed his hand before pulling his away.
"I know that you're hurt by his betrayal – he's been going behind our backs for years – but look at the bigger picture." Tom leaned forward. "He could lead us straight to the leading figure."
"Stopping the distribution of the weapons completely, would really be a slap in Duchestry's face," Zanal agreed and Harold glanced at him.
"Yes, but we'll have to be able to keep an eye on him and he keeps disappearing from our radar. There will be a time we won't find him again!" The older Potter let out a deep breath to calm down after his short tantrum.
"Yes, so I think we should go for a method we've never used before," Cornelius Zanal added and his subordinates looked at him in suspicion as Tom was intrigued. "We should send a squib after him," the Head Auror explained.
"There won't be any magic to give his or hers identity away and if Duchestry does find out, the squib could use the stereotype of hating the Ministry to get in his good graces."
"What does a squib have to offer a Dark organization?" the Minister questioned as he was reading between the lines. Getting a wizard to infiltrate a Dark organization was dangerous, a squib even more so.
"Information and connections," Doyle answer thoughtful.
"We have squibs working in the Ministry," Harold added.
"Do you have anyone in mind?" Tom directed his question to Zanal, who smiled coldly.
"Of course."
-THTH-
The chosen squib turned out to be Benjamin Dern, a cast off of the Travers' family. They had just informed him and he had taken the job almost immediately. Harry watched him walk off with Zanal as the Head Auror was going over the basics he would have to learn to protect himself. Martin and Harold followed them after a quick look at him and the Minister.
"Don't be worried," Tom gently said after the door to his office closed. The youngster turned to him with a frown.
"He has no idea what he's getting himself into. The chance of him surviving this is minimal." The Dark Lord sighed.
"We'll do everything in our power to make certain he survives," he promised and it was the Auror's turn to sigh.
"I know you will, but will it be enough?" he questioned as he glanced at the door where Benjamin had disappeared through. His green eyes suddenly widened when a knock came from it. "You're expecting someone. I should get going," Harry gave the other a small smile before walking to the door and opening it. His small smile immediately fell when he met the green eyes of Elladora.
"Am I interrupting?" she politely asked and the youngster quickly shook his head.
"No, I was just leaving," he didn't want to anymore, but took a step back anyway.
"Elladora," Tom greeted his guest as he eyed the Auror carefully. Harry's green eyes told him to stop it, but it wasn't a secret he didn't like the woman.
"I'll see you tonight," the youngster said to the Minister before nodding at Miss Black and walking out, closing the door behind him. Not being able to stop himself he glared at the wood, hoping it carried to the woman on the other side.
"Ah, Marvolo," Abraxas interrupted his glaring and he turned around to see the blond just entering the hallway. "I was looking for you," his cousin smirked his usual smirk at him. "Lucius has been asking for you." Harry couldn't help but cringe a little. It had been a shock for him when Abraxas and Lysandra had asked him to be godfather to their unborn son, Lucius. Naturally he couldn't decline as he was the only cousin Abraxas was close too and the first year old had grown on him eventually. He just had to forget the man he would become and see the little boy in front of him. It also helped to think about Draco. Having a gay godfather might make it easier for Lucius to accept Draco with Neville.
"Oh, yeah, I promised to visit, didn't I?" Abraxas nodded.
"He keeps asking about you. I was actually thinking that maybe he could sleep over," the blond carefully suggested.
"So you could have some private time with your wife?" the Auror smirked and his cousin nodded eagerly.
"Sure, why not. I'll have to check both Tom's and mine schedule for a date," Harry happily agreed.
"Great," Abraxas cheered, "and talking about our Minister," he walked past the youngster. "Ms Grelyon, do you have it?" his greyish eyes got a glint in them. The old woman looked at them over the glasses before sighing and starting to search between the files on her desk. Finding the one she needed, she checked it once more to be certain before handing it over. "Thank you," Abraxas said with a wink, which the woman ignored, before turning back to the Auror. "Look at this!"
"I don't think I should be reading official documents of the Ministry," Harry frowned and the blond rolled his eyes.
"For this one, you have permission."
"Whose?" A smile was the only answer he got.
"Fine," he accepted the file and opened it before his eyes almost fell out of his face. "A law that approves same sex-marriages?!" he called out stunned. He knew that Tom was working on it, but didn't think the day would finally come.
"Yes, it will be presented Thursday and I have a suspicion it will be approved. So be prepared, my dear cousin," Malfoy laughed as Harry felt his cheeks heat up.
"Tom's going to propose?" he shyly question and even Ms Grelyon looked up at him in disbelieve.
"That's the whole purpose, child," she stated before shaking her head and returning to her work. Stunned the Auror looked from her to Abraxas, who was raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Stop that!" he called out as he slammed the file in the blond's face and walked away with a red face, followed by Malfoy's laughter.
-THTH-
"They seem to be having fun outside," Elladora stated as she looked backwards to the door. Tom simply shrugged. He had recognized Abraxas' voice and figured he was the instigator.
"You've heard about the Auror, who betrayed us?" Miss Black turned her attention on him and nodded with a serious face. "When he's caught I'd like to give him a special interrogation," the Dark Lord didn't need to elaborate. The woman understood him perfectly.
"I'll start the preparations," she said professionally. "Also, I've invited that squib for tonight." At that the brown eyes of the Minister widened in excitement.
'That damned squib!' he cursed the woman, who had made him rape Harry five years ago. She had been put into Azkaban for two years and had disappeared upon her release. But Tom had found her and she was going to pay for real this time. "Great, I'll see you at ten," he dismissed Miss Black, who gave him a surprised look.
"Going home for dinner?" she asked and he gave her a blank stare. "I'll keep her preoccupied for three hours," Elladora forced a smile on her face before turning around and leaving. Sighing Tom dropped his façade now that he was alone and leaned backwards in his chair. 'Harry can never find out,' his mind warned him and he sighed again. He knew that if his boy ever found out about his late night activities he would leave for good. At the start he could still have talked himself out of it as they had still played by the rules, but now he had gotten to deep, to illegal…, to dark.
-THTH-
At nine o'clock Harry wished Tom a goodnight as he had an early shift tomorrow and brown eyes watched him leave with growing excitement. 'One hour left,' he smirked as he returned to the book he was reading. Five to ten he closed the book and walked to the hallway. He grabbed his robe, draped it around him before stepping to the fireplace. Some Floo powder got thrown in the flames and he was on his way to the Ministry. Once arrived he entered the dark and lonesome hall with only the fountain making any noise. He like it that way. With a steady pace he walked towards the lift and pushed the button for the lowest level. The quietness made him realize just how much racket the lift made once in motion and he noted to himself he would have someone look at that. The lowest level looked even darker than usual and with his wand he lightened it before continuing his way. His footsteps announced his arrival and Miss Black opened the door before he even reached it.
"Right on the dot," she smiled and let him enter. A creepy smile appeared on the Dark Lord's face as he took in the body flying mid-air in the middle of the room. The squib's eyes immediately widened and started stammering apologies. A wave of Tom's hand took away her speech and he carefully undid his robe before hanging it on a peg. Slowly he walked over to her still with his smile in place. He stopped in front of her.
"You didn't really think it was over, did you?"
-THTH-
Gasping for breath the tortured watched how her lungs moved with every breath she took. Tom had giving her the opportunity to study her organs from up close as they floated before her. "Now," the Dark Lord said while studying the blood on his fingers. "You admitted in your confession that your purpose was to get pregnant by me," he looked at Elladora, who nodded while going through her file. "And you did your time - congratulations on getting released by the way –" the Minister quickly added with a charming smile. "And afterwards? What did she do, Miss Black?" he questioned with played ignorance.
"She disappeared, my Lord."
"Yes," he grabbed the squib's heart and squeezed it, "you disappeared." The heart got released again and the tortured took a deep breath with coughs in between. "Which makes it hard for me to trust you." Tom leaned closer again and let his hand run freely over her intestines. "Which I have to do something about," he straightened again. "I can't have you running around trying to get pregnant by every influential wizard you come across." The squib started shaking her head as to say she wouldn't do that. "So, what to do?" he looked at Elladora and smirked as he saw her delight. "What to do?" he questioned again as he turned his attention back on his prisoner. "Oh, I know." The woman's eyes widened in horror even before he said anything. "I'll just have to make sure you can't get any children at all."
Tears started streaming over the squib's cheeks again and mingled with the blood and saliva on her chin as she muted; "please don't!"
"I was certain she didn't have any tears left," Elladora said disappointed and Tom laughed at her.
"You owe me a drink," he stated and Miss Black nodded in defeat.
"I do." Wondering just what he would get his partner-in-crime to pay for him he stunned the squib and started searching for her ovaries. Elladora quickly came to help as she had been instructed to learn how to remove ovaries. Almost like a professional she went to work and very quickly she was holding a surgical plate with two ovaries in it.
"Great job," the Dark Lord took his time to inspect the incisions before starting to put the organs back in place. Carefully he put everything in the squib's body again before closing her up and releasing the stun. Only effected by gravity the body hung towards the ground as the woman's spirit had given up.
'She's broken!' Tom smiled satisfied before adding the last punishment. The squib's head shot up as in her mind her organs were being removed again.
-THTH-
Checking the time, Tom realized it was one o'clock already and quickly pulled off his robe before walking towards the bathroom. A quick shower removed every trace of what he had been doing the last couple of hours, while Dopper started on cleaning his clothes immediately. The house-elf was already used to the nightly wash by now. Scrubbing his teeth the Dark Lord checked himself once more before moving to the bedroom. He could see the bump Harry made under the covers in the dark and crawled beside him as quietly as he could. Laying on his back he smirked at the ceiling at another successful night before frightening himself to death when the youngster draped his arm over his chest.
"Where were you?" came the dreaded question in a sleepy voice.
"Some work came up at the last minute," he lied and kissed the head that snuggled against him.
"Don't overwork yourself," Harry mumbled before Tom could feel his breath even out again. Having dodged the bullet Tom let out a deep breath before closing his eyes to try and catch some sleep himself.
-THTH-
Tom took a bite from his toast before glancing at Harry. He took in the odd look with a questioning expression. "You're humming," his boy stated and he blinked in surprise. He hadn't even noticed and stopped abruptly. It had just been a couple of grunts, but the change in frequency had made it sound like he was singing something.
"I'm in a good mood," the Dark Lord answered and the look worsened.
"You've been tense the whole week," the youngster was too perceptive. "What did you do?" Way too perceptive.
"Nothing," the politician felt his work face surface, but naturally Harry could look through it. "Everything is just falling in place," Tom shrugged as he relaxed again. "Especially after yesterday," he quickly added. "Why don't we go and eat out during the weekend?" Changing the subject seemed a good second idea.
"I've got the late shift." The look didn't get better.
"Then you're free next weekend!" Tom stated as he went over his boy's schedule in his head.
"Yes," the youngster sounded suspicious.
"Let's have a day out," the Minister smiled charmingly.
"Which day?"
"Sunday is the easiest."
"All right," Harry averted his eyes to his breakfast and the other could see the radars in his head working before a blush spread on the youngster's cheeks.
'Damn Abraxas, why did you tell him I was going to propose?' he cursed his right hand man. It was hard to surprise someone who's already expecting the surprise. He fingered his ring before swallowing the last of his toast and got up. "I'll see you tonight," he rounded the table and kissed his boy's waiting lips.
"I expect you in bed when I return!" his boy playfully glared him and Tom saluted him. It had happened twice already this week that he was just removing his robe when the Auror arrived home from his late shift. He knew the youngster was simply worried, but it came with the job and of course his late night ventures. He had been searching for a way to legalize the torture sessions – he wouldn't have to go behind Harry's back and do it during the work hours – but hadn't been successful yet. Also not having to sneak in his captives into a high security Ministry and coming up with a cover story for the sudden disappearance, would help. Glancing at his boy, he noted the open smile on Harry's lips as he watched their house-elf move around the room. Remorse filled his chest and he wished for a quick solution for his problem.
R&R