A/N: Yes, I'm back. What can I say? 2006 was a rough start for me. A lot going on. People coming. People going. I even had one funeral to deal with already. That was of a lovely lady whose husband I know through my church. It's always sad when someone dies. It's even worse when it is unexpected.

In regards to this chapter, folks, I want you to look carefully at the title, and as you read the next two chapters, I want you to ask yourselves one question. 'What, exactly, is Voldemort regaining control of?'.

And as always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: All characters of the Harry Potter series (hereafter known as 'legal property') are the sole ownership of J.K. Rowling (hereafter known as 'owner of said legal property'). No infringement on any copyright of owner of said legal property of the legal property is knowing intended. Published by author (hereafter known as 'other') for entertainment purposes only. No monetary or personal gain was knowingly made by other with the publication of this story, which was based on ideas and characters created by owner of said legal property as they pertain to legal property. No plagiarism of legal property or of any ideas of the owner of said legal property was knowingly intended by other. This statement is fully transferable and is legally held binding for all chapters of the story Family Relations as they are presented under different chapter headings and titles for individual chapters.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: REGAINING CONTROL (PART ONE)

Orion was sitting peacefully in front of a fire in his rooms at the castle enjoying on of his rare, but treasured, quiet afternoons. For the past several days he had seen little of Voldemort. For once, the man seemed to be behaving himself and not causing some sort of ruckus. Although, he suspiciously thought several times, he actually was coming to prefer the man making some sort of noise somewhere. Be it beleaguering poor Dumbledore over his plans for the hundredth time, or threatening some poor house elf because his toast wasn't crisp enough, at least when the man was making noise, he knew what he was up to. Voldemort quiet usually spelled trouble.

Orion was contemplating what sort of trouble the dark lord might be up to when there was a loud knock on the door. Getting up, he grumbled slightly at being disturbed. But it was nothing compared to where his mood went when he opened the door.

"So good to find you in, Mr. Black." Voldemort stated, starting past him into the room.

But Orion quickly blocked his path, gazing down at him past an indifferent stare.

"What is it you want?"

Voldemort paused, then stepped back. "You're help, if you must know."

Orion still didn't move.

"It really is a matter best not discussed in the hallways of the castle, Mr. Black." Voldemort added. "Sounds carry in stone corridors quite well, I can assure you."

"If you were to assure me the sun would rise tomorrow, I would still have cause to question it."

Voldemort smiled again. "Very well. Then I suppose you wouldn't mind half the school knowing about your personal life?"

Orion's eyebrows came down to form nearly a straight line above his eyes. "Meaning?"

"Your relationship with one of my Deatheaters." Voldemort replied in an almost pleasant, conversational voice. "Details of which I am quite sure you don't want broadcast as an echo down these hallways."

Orion paused for a few more seconds, then stepped aside, not missing the pleased smile on Voldemort's lips as he walked past him.

Walking back into the main room, Orion found Voldemort already seated on the couch, apparently waiting impatiently for him.

"I am referring, of course, to your relationship with Katlin Griss." He started immediately.

Orion kept his expression utterly neutral as he walked about to the front of the sofa.

"Oh, there's no need to bother denying it, Mr. Black. I've been aware of it for sometime. Katlin herself admitted it to me. And I understand discretion, Mr. Black. Especially in your position. Nor can I really blame you. Katlin is a very beautiful woman. And an exchange of being able to touch that beauty for what? A few pointless secrets? I would call it a good trade myself. One even I would likely not have hesitated to make."

Inwardly Orion breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what the reason, Voldemort still believed the relationship nothing more than the exchange of sex for information. And Orion reminded silent on the matter. He wouldn't confirm or deny Voldemort's suspicions. Let the man think what he would.

"And personally," Voldemort continued after a momentary pause, "your relationship can be of great use to me right now."

"Meaning?"

"In order for us to go forward with our plans, I need to enlist the help of my people. The Deatheaters."

"Aside from getting in the way and generally botching the job, what do you need them for?"

"As in every organization, Mr. Black, there are good people, and bad ones. The bad ones usually don't last very long. Among my Deatheaters, those are usually the ones your Aurors are killing or sending to Azkaban. But as I'm sure you know, there are plenty who know how to...get the job done. Who know the rewards of pleasing their dark lord."

"Get on with it." Orion stated, keeping his voice, like his expression, neutral.

"These are the people I need the help of, Mr. Black. My Elite. And much as you are one of the driving forces of the Unspeakables, Katlin Griss is one of the driving forces within my Elite forces."

"And?"

"Unfortunately, in this body, it's unlikely any Deatheater is going to give me much more attention that isn't coming out of the end of their wand."

Orion stared down at the man. "Didn't you TELL them?" He stated in disbelief.

"No, you idio...of course I didn't tell them." Voldemort back down from allowing his anger to get the better of him. He needed Black's help right now. Irritating the man wouldn't do much good. "When I first found the spell that allowed me to acquire this body, I had no idea if it would work or not. And there was no real way to test the spell. Also, I had no way of knowing, if the spell failed; if, in that brief moment of contact, your brother might have possibly learned of my plans, or if, in the interim, I had died, and your brother knew what my plans were, he might have gone to Dumbledore, and they could easily, just between the two of them, arranged a plan that, without my presence to stop them, could have brought down the Deatheaters in a matter of days, simply with your brother pretending to be me."

"Then go and tell them. I see no reason that you need my help."

"Then your not thinking very clearly."

"Can't you just summon them? Surely they wouldn't question that."

"There is always the possibility that someone else learned to summon them. It would prove nothing to them."

"Kill a few of them." Orion offered with a helpful smile. "That should do it."

Voldemort frowned at the man before him. "Mr. Black, I could well walk into the lair and announce who I am. And likely perform a few spells that they know only I am capable of or find some other way to convince them. But even those who knew me well would question it, thinking it some elaborate trick. I've been away from the lair for some time now. No Deatheater has heard from me in weeks. And it isn't unlikely that some of them may see me as little more than an 'elaborate trick' by Dumbledore and his followers. They may reason that Dumbledore found out about my plans and sent Sirius Black to impersonate me. And since some of the things I'm going to be asking them to do will be rather...questionable to them, they may not have cause to believe me."

"Questionable?"

"If we are to succeed, Mr. Black, we can not have fighting among ourselves. I will need the loyalty of my Elites. Someone I can leave behind and trust to maintain order. During the time I am gone I do not want them...acting of their own volition and arranging attacks against Dumbledore's people."

"How considerate of you." Orion stated with blatant sarcasm.

"Consideration has nothing to do with it. We will never defeat this wizard if our own forces are killing each other off. Once he knows what we are up to, this man may very well strike out at us with his own people. We'll need soldiers in the field, Mr. Black, to meet those attacks and stop them. As well as people who can go before us to weed out obstacles this wizard may place in our path. My people are very good at these things."

"Your people are very good at laying down and dieing from my experience. Even more so if they go off to meet this man's forces head on."

"You have some better alternative?"

"Unspeakables prefer to do things with a bit more stealth."

"And if you prefer to get your people killed by doing things with 'stealth', Mr. Black, be my guest. But you may recall that a great number of my best spies never came back from missions they were sent on to uncover what they could about this wizard. And my Elite could teach your Unspeakables a thing or two about 'stealth'."

Orion sighed quietly. "What is it you want?" He asked finally.

"Your relationship with Katlin Griss assures me that she will listen to you. I want you to go with me to her and makes sure she believes me."

Orion considered the request for a moment. Weighing the pros and cons of helping Voldemort regain control of the Deatheaters. If the man was even remotely sincere in what they were doing, it would be worth it well enough just to get the Deatheaters to back off on attacks for a few weeks. And if he were part of the mission to seek out this other wizard, then he could well work from within to hinder things a bit. Allow his own people time to gather new information and strategies while the Deatheaters sat awaiting orders from their dark lord.

On the extreme plus side, Orion hadn't seen Katlin in weeks. Much as he loathed relying on Voldemort to get him a date with his wife, he would take whatever chance he got at this point.

"And if you need further enticement, Mr. Black," Voldemort went on, "consider the attack in Diagon Alley a few days ago."

"Consider what?"

"That was a perfect example of the Deatheaters without a leader and without purpose. Random attacks for no real reason other than a 'bit of fun'. Help me re-establish my control over them and I can put a stop to that. As well as stop the Deatheaters from targeting your brother with such determination. Once they believe that I am the person in control of this body, they wouldn't dare such a thing again. Otherwise, your dear little brother might not be so fortune next time. Even for me, the attack was not easy to escape."

"Sirius has an unrecognizable charm on him. He could be running naked through Diagon Alley and your Deatheaters wouldn't know it was him."

"Maybe not, but perhaps the next time I am in the same situation, the charming Ms. Figg or Mr. Potter are with me again. And I can assure you, they will recognize them."

Orion carefully studied the man before him. "All right." He said finally. "When?"

"Now."

"What?"

"We go now. The Deatheaters will be gathering tomorrow night. I want things in place by then for me to resume my place as their leader at that meeting."

"I'll need to inform the Headmaster where I'll be."

"Of course."

Fifteen minutes later, Orion was headed with Voldemort out towards the gates of Hogwarts. Inwardly he was anxious to see Katlin again. Just to stand in a room with her would be enough for him at that point. Just to see her. Between the two of them they could carry on a whole conversation without once saying a single word.

Given a few seconds in private they could do a whole lot more.

It was definitely shaping up to be a very good day.

Q&A

Family Relations

CrimsonReality:

Thank you, Dear. Glad you enjoyed it.

Skahducky:

There was one thing I didn't quite understand in Arabella and Voldemort's conversation before they headed out. Arabella suggested that Voldemort let Sirius go free, but Voldemort said he can't because the spell won't allow it. However, he allowed Sirius free reign in a previous chapter when Sirius said not to trust Voldemort. Therefore, I think Arabella was talking about something more...permanent, I guess. So, what exactly was she suggesting Voldemort do?

I definitely saw more Sirius than Voldemort in this chapter, except when he went to fight the Death Eaters. Aren't the Death Eaters going to be confused, though? I mean, the person who attacked them was certainly skilled and talked like their master, so shouldn't it not take long for them to put two and two together? I mean, he was with Harry Potter, who has been on Voldemort's mind a lot in the past years. Even though he was protecting them, if any Death Eater considers the possibility that he really was Voldemort, they would probably think that he was up to some plot, which is sort of true, isn't it?

Sirius said to not trust Voldemort that one time he was able to get out fully. I think he would be in a position to know, especially since he's sharing a body with Voldemort. However, Voldemort seemed very trustworthy in this chapter. Perhaps he's just trying to build trust so he can later use it sabotage Arabella and Harry? After all, a lot of it could have come from Sirius, who would be more prevalent in his surface personality because Arabella was being more or less pleasant with him. Is it then possible for Voldemort to sabatoge them? I know you said that there's more to it than just being nice to him to help coax Sirius' personality out a bit more, but even with just that, Sirius has come through admirably. With that in mind, if everybody treats Voldemort the way Arabella does, wouldn't Sirius' personality come out enough to hold Voldemort back before he does anything truly sinister? When Voldemort has shown through fully, it could be that Sirius saw the benefit of letting Voldemort take over (such as when he went out to fight the Death Eaters) or just wanted a rest from fighting to come out (such as when he talked about Dumbledore).

You're not really trying to say Voldemort isn't as bad as we think, right?

Didn't anybody notice that Arabella kept addressing Voldemort by his name, and he even shouted it out when he was attacked?

Also, why did Voldemort say Harry's cut was interesting right before he summoned them to his quarters? After all, they were just in a mini-battle, and Voldemort had been hurt. Why would it be unusual that Harry had gotten cut?

I don't know if you mentioned this, but were the Death Eaters wearing their usual garb? I mean, wouldn't everybody have been more aware that something was about to happen if they were wearing their customary Death Eater uniforms? Were they really just rampant Death Eaters, or are they the Death Eaters Voldemort mentioned who openly renounced Voldemort and joined in with the other wizard?

Also, Voldemort tried to make it seem as though Harry was too confused to realize who had ordered Wormtail to kill Cedric. However, despite everything else going on, it's unlikely that Harry would hear something that was there, and who else was there to say it aside from Voldemort? After all, Wormtail wouldn't tell himself to kill Cedric, and the only people at the graveyard at the time were Harry, Cedric, Voldemort, and Wormtail. Was Voldemort insinuating that somebody else was there? Was he perhaps suggesting the Wizard from the north was there? This definitely can't be a case of Sirius' personality pushing through because I don't think Sirius would try to back Voldemort up on this argument.

Anyway, this is a great chapter. Please update soon!

Goodness! That was...long!

OK, let me see if I can straighten that first one out. In a sense, you answered your own question, just without details. Yes, Arabella was suggesting something a little more 'permanent' when she ask Voldemort to let Sirius go free. And you're right, Voldemort did allow Sirius to take control of the body when he allowed Harry to talk to him. But there's a big difference between that and between what Arabella ask of him. Letting Sirius regain control enough to speak is one thing. That is simply Voldemort 'stepping into the background', as it were and allowing Sirius control of his body again. Arabella wants Voldemort out all together, which he said he couldn't do. Was he telling the truth? That remains to be seen. However, Voldemort also can't very well leave Sirius' body without another one to go to, can he? So he is, so-to-speak, currently stuck with nowhere else to go.

Won't the Deatheaters figure out this is Voldemort, put two and two together, as you said? Dear. These are Deatheaters. Please. They put two and two together and they usually get five or something. Rarely four. And seeing Voldemort with Harry is certainly not going to strengthen his case that he is Voldemort, since he wasn't killing him at the time. Add to that that he was actually protecting the boy and his case holds water like a sieve.

Yes, indeed, Sirius would be in a position to know. But this is a whole part of this story, Dear. Is Voldemort on the up-and-up, or is he just up-to-something? That is what the readers have to sort out. Hopefully I'll lay out enough clues.

No. Treating Voldemort 'nice' only allows Sirius a certain amount of control. Not full control. Voldemort, as caster of the spell, maintains control until he willingly relinquishes it. All being 'nice' to him does is allows a bit more a Sirius to emerge in the personality, as you saw in the last chapter. And yes, each personality does see the advantage at times of allowing the other to take control. You'll being seeing this a bit more in later chapters.

Am I saying Voldemort isn't as bad as you think? That, Dear, is part of the story and for you to decide.

Did anybody notice Arabella saying his name? People milling about here and there, not really. Later, people were running and screaming. Voldemort could have been yelling out lottery numbers and I doubt anyone would have noticed. Besides, the only ones who were really around at the time were Deatheaters. And they didn't care if he called himself Father Christmas. What they saw was little Harry Potter with some woman and a strange man (remember the concealment charm).

He wasn't commenting on the cut, Dear. If you go back and re-read that, he was looking at Harry's arm when he made that comment. What he found interesting was related to what happened between Harry and Katlin in Runaway. If you remember, Katlin removed the Dark Mark from her arm by transferring it to Harry's, and then the mark disappeared. Things that happen in other stories come back to haunt my characters. That's why I often advise reading most of my stories, and I try to point out if they are inter-connected somehow.

The Deatheaters were not dressed in their usual regalia. Just standard black robes. And they were Voldemort's Deatheaters, not the other wizard's people.

You're going to have to decide this one for yourself, Dear. Again, its a large part of the story and its not the first time you're going to hear something from Voldemort's 'point of view'. So, was he telling the truth about what happened in the graveyard? You'll have to decide for yourself or wait and see.

hug-me:

Thank you, Dear. We have a lot more coming.

jupimako:

Goodness! Most of them in the past day? Someone definitely had the weekend free.

I'm glad you like the character development and interaction. I put a great deal of time into making sure things flow together smoothly.

Indeed, you will get to see Harry and Katlin 'reunited'. It's a bit hard to call it a reunion, since Katlin has never actually left where Harry is concerned. She is, after all, about to become his aunt for all intents and purposes. A role she takes very seriously. And she does, in fact, like Harry, and has popped in and out to see him since their parting in Runaway. Something Sirius and Arabella were aware of. They didn't like it, they were just aware of it. But knowing that Katlin is Orion's wife (yes, they know), they figure she isn't likely to harm the boy. So, watch for the 'reunion' chapter. It's really quite cute.

MasterLupin:

Well manipulation is a great skill, one that I know Voldermort would be able to put to great use. And Harry is so pron to manipulation that he would easly fall for it.

Ok, first off, yes, Voldemort could teach almost anyone the art of manipulation. As for Harry being prone to manipulation, I don't know I would say that so much as is the poor boy just a little too gullible.

Family Life

Me The Cat:

Cute name.

I have a club forming for people who have mentioned this, by the way. Yes, he appeared at times to come off a bit immature to some people. What can I say? It's all in how you view the character.

Fever

amanda burke:

I'm sorry, Dear, but this story is finished. No more chapters.

Diamond

gabbana:

Where do you people come up with these names? I love this one.

Anyway, thank you, Dear. I enjoyed working on this story a great deal. It was one of my one shots that I sat down and wrote day because I was bored.

All reviews are as of 01/22/2006.

And remember;

Why do they sell hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight?