Hey everyone! I am back! I had an amazing time on prac and learnt so much. I slowly worked on this chapter while I was on prac and am now ready to post, I hope you like it. I will try my best to get the next chapter out soon, but honestly my brain is pretty tired at the moment lol. Enjoy!
As always, I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter 8
Harry hit the ground with a loud thump, feeling completely disorientated from apparating. He decided it was definitely his least favourite way to travel, worse even then travelling by portkey. It took him a moment to right himself and another moment to realise that he was not in Knockturn Alley as he was supposed to be.
He turned accusing eyes on Flint, who actually had the audacity to look a little contrite.
"What did you do!?" Harry asked, voice shaking with anger.
"What I was asked to." He answered simply, with that Flint apparated away without another glance at Harry.
Harry let out a weary sigh and slowly turned to face the rest of the room. He was both surprised and not surprised by what he found.
Voldemort, Malfoys, Lestranges… and was that Blaise Zabini? He took an involuntary step back even as his body and mind screamed at him to go to his soulmates. He skimmed over the fact that Voldemort no longer looked like some weird snake/man hybrid but was now a quite attractive man. Instead he focused on his soulmates. It was the first time he was seeing them in nearly a week and his body was practically forcing him to go to them. It was also the first time Harry was seeing them as themselves, they both looked furious and Harry was caught between wanting to comfort them and being afraid that they were angry at him.
He held firm though, he didn't know where he stood with them yet, or with anyone else in the room for that matter.
He looked around to find that every occupant in the room was regarding him intently, it was enough to make him take another step back. He glanced around quickly to see if any way of escape was open to him, but he was well and truly trapped, people blocking the door, windows and fireplace.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Whatever would happen would happen, the least he could do was meet it head on. In some strange way he actually felt kind of relieved that everything had come to a head like this. He hadn't thought of a good way to approach his soulmates and he knew that he wouldn't have lasted much longer without them. Sure, he wouldn't die from being away from them, but his existence would become even more miserable the longer they were apart.
After several moments of silence where Harry attempted to marshal his thoughts Lord Voldemort spoke.
"Ah, Harry, so nice of you to join us."
"It's not like you gave me much of a choice" Harry responded petulantly and was surprised when he heard Voldemort let out a huff of laughter.
"Be that as it may I would like you to take a seat, we have a few things that need to be discussed."
Harry thought about the request for a moment, then deciding he had nothing to gain from declining, moved to sit in a large leather armchair as far from the Dark Lord as he could get. He chanced a glance at Rabastan and Rodolphus and found them both frozen staring at him. It looked like they hadn't been forewarned about his impromptu arrival.
As Harry sat the brothers subconsciously mimicked him and took their seats as well. The rest of the room sitting around them.
"Now young man, you have many of us intrigued. After only one meeting it seems that you have hoodwinked two of my best men." Here Voldemort paused as if expecting Harry to speak, instead Harry just looked at his hands, ignoring the people around him.
Voldemort seemed annoyed at the lack of response. "I wish to know if you have done something to my men, and if so to what purpose? Did you do it to try to gain something from me?"
"And who might you be?" Harry asked innocently, his brows furrowing in feigned confusion. He heard Lucius snort in amusement.
"I think you know very well who I am, as well as many people in this room judging from the recognition that flashed through your eyes when you arrived. It's funny though, none of us seem to recognise you, probably due to that nifty glamour you're wearing."
Harry felt the shock flit across his face before he could suppress it. How had they known about his glamour? He supposed Voldemort was one of the most powerful wizards to ever live, he probably had his ways to detect such things.
"I really have no idea what you're talking about," Harry said blithely, trying to seem unconcerned about Voldemort's statement.
Voldemort, however, just ignored him.
"Would you like to meet the two men that are so very enamoured with you?"
Without conscious thought Harry's eyes sought out Rabastan and Rodolphus.
"Yes, that's them" Voldemort said smugly as he tracked Harry's movements. "It seems you already know who I'm talking about. Funny that, when you claim to have done nothing."
"I have done nothing!" Harry exclaimed angrily.
Again, he was ignored, might as well just be invisible he thought as Bella spoke up from his left.
"He is clearly lying my Lord, leave him alone with me for a while, I will convince him to tell the truth." The witch said eagerly.
Harry shuddered at the thought of being anywhere near Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius' killer. Anger coursed through him again at the memory of what she had done. He pushed it down, now was not the time to be acting like some hot-headed Gryffindor.
Voldemort sent Bella a sharp look, ignoring her words and how Rabastan and Rodolphus had both made to get out of their seats and move to Harry at Bella's words.
"There's no need for that, now is there Harry?" Voldemort asked, his tone questioning.
He let out a sigh when Harry went back to looking at his hands, not answering.
"Remove the glamour Harry, so we may have this conversation as we truly are."
Harry shook his head, fear coursing through him, he noticed that his hands had begun to shake.
"No, I'm sorry but I can't."
"Let me put it in a way that you will understand, shall I? You will remove your glamour, or I will allow Bella to remove it. And I promise you, she will not be gentle."
Rabastan made a noise of protest at his Lords words, but quickly quietened down with a gesture from the Dark Lord.
"The choice is yours Harry" the soft voice seemed to make the statement even more menacing.
Harry thought for a moment, he knew he wasn't getting out of here without revealing who he was, he would also prefer not to have Bellatrix anywhere near him if at all possible. But still he hesitated. It was this hesitation that cost him. It seemed that Voldemort hadn't been giving him a choice after all. While they had been talking Draco had slowly leaned closer from his place beside Harry, when Harry looked down, deep in thought Draco leapt forward and ripped the necklace from his throat, dragging him roughly from his seat in the process.
He let out a cry of surprise and pain as he hit the floor, then panic started to sink in. His necklace was gone! He jumped to his feet, his eyes darting around the room looking for escape as the glamour slowly began to fade. Everyone in the room stood transfixed as auburn hair receded to be replaced by messy black, blue eyes faded to startling green and Harry seemed to shrink...shrink…shrink into himself until he reached his natural height and weight.
Gasps of surprise echoed around the room as Harry hung his head in defeat.
Before he could say anything or even try to explain a voice screamed 'crucio!' and Harry was thrown on his back, screaming himself hoarse as pain ripped through his body. The pain stopped but Harry lay still gasping and shivering, his body aching. He heard yelling but his brain didn't seem capable of processing the words at the moment.
His eyes flew open when he felt strong arms reach down and scoop him up into a firm chest. Other hands brushed against his cheeks, wiping away tears he hadn't even realised he had shed. Rabastan and Rodolphus. His soulmates. He was being cradled in Rabastan's arms while Rodolphus wiped the tears off his face. His body seemed to relax instantly at his soulmates touch, and he leaned into Rodolphus's large hand as it cupped his cheek.
"Enough Bella!" Voldemort hissed and Harry was surprised that he cared enough to reprimand her.
"It's Harry Potter my Lord!" she yelled.
"Yes, I can clearly see that" Voldemort answered snarkily.
Here Lucius spoke up, clearly just as enraged as Bella. "He has obviously bewitched Rabastan and Rodolphus on Dumbledores orders! What did you think would happen Harry, slip them a love potion and they would spill all our secrets to you!? You are pathetic, you sorry excuse for a wizard!"
Harry flinched away from Lucius' cruel words. His head spinning from pain and exhaustion.
"ENOUGH!" Rabastan yelled, as Rodolphus started stalking toward Lucius. "How would you even know what the plan is, you haven't given Harry a chance to speak yet!"
Voldemort held up his hand fall stalling anymore complaints Bella or Lucius were about to make and stopping Rodolphus in his tracks.
"Now, let's all take a seat and discuss this like the adults some of us are." Voldemort said eyeing Lucius and Bella in particular as they took their seats.
Rabastan and Rodolphus moved to a two-seater lounge and sat down, placing Harry securely in between them, one arm wrapped around his shoulders another around his waist. Rather than feeling trapped Harry just felt safe and burrowed in deeper between the pair.
Harry ignored the venomous looks that were being cast at him from several people, it wasn't like he hadn't been on the end of glares before. Unfortunately, it was something he was all too familiar with.
"Now Harry, I feel that there is an interesting story behind why you're here. Why don't you enlighten us please?" Despite Voldemort's calm tone Harry knew that his was not a request.
He looked up at Voldemort, green eyes meeting deep brown with just a hint of their former red.
He sighed wearily, running his hand through his messy hair.
Seeing as how Harry was still hesitant to start, Voldemort decided to start with a question.
"Is there a reason you are looking particularly worse for wear?"
Harry frowned in confusion and looked down at himself, he looked much the same as he always did. His clothes were obviously hanging off him but that was hardly his fault.
"This is how I always look; the clothes were obviously made for the glamour so of course they're too big for me" Harry said defensively, pulling the too big shirt back onto his bony shoulder.
Voldemort looked surprised at the words, "Draco?" he enquired.
"Yes, that is usually how he looks, the clothes although far too big are actually much better quality then what he typically gets around in," Draco answered.
Voldemort furrowed his eyebrows, eyes trailing over Harry.
"Why don't you start at the beginning Harry and tell us how you ended up here." This came from Narcissa, and the words were almost kind.
"Fine" Harry said with a sigh. "I… I just had enough of it all, then something happened on my birthday and I knew that it would never be accepted, so I decided to leave."
Harry knew he was being very brief and hadn't really explained anything at all.
"I think we will need a few more details then that" Narcissa said kindly. "What exactly happened on your birthday?"
Harry swallowed thickly, trying to find the courage to explain. This was it, the moment his soulmates found out, the fear of rejection was strong, but Harry took comfort from their warm presence at his side.
He pulled his sleeves back revealing both his wrists.
"This happened" he said shortly.
The whole room stilled; Harry looked around. Everyone was staring at his wrists in shock, even Voldemort had frozen. Draco's mouth was hanging open and Harry knew he would've found the sight amusing if the situation wasn't so dire.
Harry risked a glance at Rabastan and Rodolphus and found that they too were staring at his wrists, a look of wonder on their faces.
Blaise was the first to come to his senses. "Soul marks, you have not one but two soul marks?" he asked weakly.
"I can't believe this," Narcissa gasped in shock. "It is unheard of to have two soul marks, one is rare enough, but two!"
Everyone else looked just as gobsmacked by this turn of events.
"This explains so much," Voldemort said with a very uncharacteristic groan.
Harry felt movement beside him and looked to see that both Rabastan and Rodolphus had awoken from their shock and were looking at Harry in awe.
"May we?" they asked reaching out for their own names written on his wrists. Harry simply nodded mutely.
Rabastan held his hand reverently, while Rodolphus clutched his arm as they both reached out and ran their fingers over the swirling black letters.
Harry felt like his brain short circuited at the touch, it was like there was a line straight to his groin and his brain from each mark. He felt his whole-body tense and then relax, well almost his whole body, one part of his anatomy decided that now was the time to grow impossibly hard. Arousal coursed through him leaving his face flushed and his eyes darkened with lust.
A throat cleared and Narcissa spoke. "Perhaps you should leave touching the marks to when you are alone, in private," she said with a pointed look at Harry.
Rabastan and Rodolphus who had been so caught up in examining their own marks upon Harry's flesh hadn't noticed the state that he was now in.
They both let out throaty groans at the sight of Harry between them, flushed and panting with arousal. Harry was just thankful that his pants were so large that it was difficult to see how hard he was.
Harry blushed brightly under their gazes, embarrassed by his body's strong reaction.
Rabastan scooped him up and placed Harry in his lap, while Rodolphus placed Harry's legs in his own lap.
"Don't be embarrassed little one," Rodolphus whispered as he rubbed soothing circles into Harry's ankle. "That's a perfectly natural reaction to your soulmates touching your soul marks."
"No one's ever touched them before" Harry whispered. "I… I wasn't expecting it to be so intense."
Rabastan and Rodolphus looked smug about that.
"It wouldn't be so intense if anyone else touched them, that reaction will only happen with your soulmates, and probably not quite as potent as this first time" Voldemort explained.
"Ah" Harry nodded in understanding. Then decided now that the cat was out of the bag, he should tell the story properly.
"So, yeah" Harry started articulately. "I was sitting up watching the clock strike midnight on my 16th birthday when these appeared" he explained, waving his wrists around. "I knew a little about what they were thanks to Hermione. But I knew the light side would never let me be with my soulmates. They would try to make me forget about you," Harry explained looking first at Rodolphus then Rabastan. He felt Rabastan tighten his hold on him at the words.
"And honestly I have had just about enough of the light side by this point anyway. I am constantly put in danger every year, are you telling me that Dumbledore has no idea that these things are happening? Seriously the whole mess at the Ministry this summer could have been avoided if Dumbledore had just been honest with me, but no, of course he wasn't! Don't even get me started on the wizarding world, they turn on me at the drop of a hat, one-minute vilifying me, the next expecting me to be their golden boy and save them from all the horrors in the world. I'm only bloody 16 for Merlin's sake! Then every summer they send me back to my relative's house, without a care, even though I have told them all many times I do not want to go back there. No one cares. No one does anything to help. I'm just so very tired of it all. So, when the soul marks appeared, I thought this might be my chance to be with people who might care about me, even if it is just because of the soul marks."
He had started off ranting and raving, but by the end of the speech his voice had become more subdued and despondent.
No one seemed to quite know how to respond to that speech. Voldemort looked thoughtful, while a few of the others looked concerned.
"You are ours now Harry" Rodolphus whispered, and even though the words were possessive they were also said with kindness and Harry found himself warming as he burrowed deeper into Rabastan's chest.
Harry cleared his throat and continued.
"I packed a few things, jumped out of my bedroom window and snuck away. I travelled to London by train, and well here I am" he finished lamely.
Harry looked around the room again to find that the murderous looks were gone, and most people were looking at him calmly if a little suspiciously.
Voldemort was lost in thought.
"Mr Potter," a woman Harry didn't recognise, though judging from the remarkable likeness to Blaise Harry thought it must be his mother, started speaking. "Do you understand just how special soul marks are? They are extremely rare and revered, especially amongst old wizarding families. Nothing is more important to a person then their soul mate and you have just gained two. In all my years I have never met someone with a soul mark, and I have never heard of anyone having two. It should be impossible, yet here you sit."
Harry rolled his eyes, "well isn't that just the story of my life."
Mrs Zabini looked intrigued at his words but didn't question him further.
"I… ah, actually didn't know how special soul marks were though, so thank you for telling me. And umm you can call me Harry if you like." He finished shyly.
She smiled. "Thank you, Harry, you may call me Carmel then. And yes, they are very special. I imagine that you would have many people who would wish to speak to you if it was discovered that you have a soul mark, even more so that you have two."
Harry looked downright terrified at the idea of even more attention being heaped on him.
"I feel it might be best if you retire to a guest room for the evening, you look exhausted Harry." Voldemort said, eyeing the dark circles under his eyes.
Harry felt both Rabastan and Rodolphus hold him tighter at the words.
"Your soulmates can of course join you if they wish, I just need to have a few words with them first. Draco and Blaise will escort you safely to your room."
Harry nodded in understanding, but lingered as he stood, he didn't want to leave Rabastan and Rodolphus, the brothers looked like they were fairing no better letting Harry leave.
"Come along Harry" Draco said gripping his arm tightly and pulling him toward the door. "They will be along in a minute."
"Oh, and Harry" Voldemort called out. "Your room will be locked, and you will have a guard with you at all times until I am sure that I can trust you."
Harry didn't respond, he had expected nothing less.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
Rabastan and Rodolphus watched their little soulmate until he had left the room with Draco and Blaise, both fighting the urge to trail after him.
Something of their feelings must have shown on their faces for Carmel started chuckling, "you pair look like all light has left your lives. He has just gone to a guest room; you will be back with him shortly."
"Logically I know that, but all I can think of is being with him, of all the things that could happen while he is away from us, it's very disconcerting." Rodolphus explained.
"Obviously in light of these recent developments, both Harry leaving the light side as well as being the soulmate of two of my most loyal supporters, I will not be continuing my campaign to destroy him." The Dark Lord explained sardonically. "I had already been contemplating this course of action since my sanity had been returned to me. I have spent too long focused on Harry Potter and not working towards our goals. I won't lie though, that Harry leaving the light side and possibly joining us would be a huge gain. He is an extremely powerful wizard with a lot of influence."
"There is more going on here than meets the eye" Narcissa spoke up.
"I agree" The Dark Lord said, resting his chin in his hand. "What do you make of it Narcissa?"
"Well, just look at him my Lord. He's supposed to be the same age as Draco and Blaise, but he looks years younger. He is painfully thin and when he pulled his sleeves up to show his soul marks, I saw other marks and scars on his arms," Narcissa said, concern clear in her tone.
Rabastan and Rodolphus tensed at what Narcissa was insinuating.
"There is also his talk of the dangers he has faced, and his thoughts that Dumbledore has been setting him up" Lucius put in. "There has of course been rumours of his exploits over the years, but I would say only Potter and Dumbledore know the full truth behind the rumours." He finished, causing the group to once again lap into silence. "We will need to speak with him, to determine exactly what has happened to him over the years." The Dark Lord said decisively. "I will also contact a healer to come and check him over sometime in the next few days. Rabastan, Rodolphus, I know that this will be no hardship on you, but you are to stay with him at all times. Ensure he is safe but that he is also not passing on any information to Dumbledore or anyone else while he is here. Bella we will also need to talk to him urgently about your role in Sirius' death if there is any hope of salvaging any kind of relationship between you."
The brothers and Bella nodded seriously. Rabastan and Rodolphus made to stand and go to their soulmate.
"Also, congratulations," Voldemort said sincerely taking the brothers by surprise. "Soulmates are a gift from mother magic and are truly a cause for celebration, you are both very lucky."
The brothers nodded their thanks and hurriedly left the room, eager to get back to Harry.
"Well I was not expecting that" Bella said quietly, "when we brought Harry here."
"I don't think any of us were" Lucius said seriously. "Soulmates with Harry Potter, honestly what are the chances?"
