Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.
Warnings: This story will have Slash, violence and torture.
Chapter 8 – Wake-up call
"Are you sure you want to do this tonight?" Tom asked him for what felt like the hundredth time. Harry had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Who would have thought that Tom had mother-hen tendencies?
"Yes, Tom, I'm sure." he couldn't quite keep the exasperation from his tone.
"Truly? There would be no harm done in postponing. You had a rather tiring day." he insisted and Harry did roll his eyes.
"Tom, it was just the second task, nothing more."
"Just!? Just the second task? Harry, are you forgetting that I was there? What you did..." Tom shook his head, wonder still present in his eyes. Truthfully Harry didn't really blame him, he had been somewhat surprised that his plan had worked as well as it had, considering that he hadn't even come up with it till he was standing beside the other champions ready to rescue their hostages.
Harry was a little tired, alright, more than a little, he was ready to drop over and sleep for a week. Well, that might be an exaggeration but he was truly tired. Things were a little complicated at the moment and all because of the second task.
Not that he was worried about the task itself, he was more worried about who they would take as a hostage. Ron was out, at least he thought so since they hadn't spoken since his name came out of the Goblet. His date for the Yule Ball was a possibility; he had taken Luna. The only person he knew that wouldn't assume that he had taken her because he was madly in love with her. So as soon as McGonagall had told them about the Ball he had tracked Luna down and asked her to go with him. She had smiled dreamily at him and agreed; then she floated away as if nothing had happened, though not before congratulating him for getting rid of the nargals.
It still brought a smile to his lips when he saw people's faces when they saw Luna at the Ball with him. He had bought her a beautiful gown and had arranged with an older Ravenclaw, one that didn't bully the little blond, to help Luna with her hair. When all was said and done little Luna Lovegood had looked like an ethereal elf. The student body had gaped and more than one boy had shot him envious looks.
Luna had been quite happy for the whole night. She was still herself but there had been a light in her eyes that had been absent when he had met her in his fifth year. It had felt good to bring her joy, and it hadn't been all that difficult, just a little care and attention. He would have done so much more to see that light in her eyes. So, yes, Luna was a possibility. But so were others, like Hermione, Wayne, Zack, even Ginny. He had no idea how the hostages were chosen, so he had no way to know.
Which lead to him spending the last day marking everyone with a tracking charm. Not everyone, everyone, just those that interacted more with him. He knew that he was going overboard, but he truly didn't want to risk it. Besides he couldn't quite remember where the merpeople's village was in the lake and as far as he was concerned the sooner he could get there the better. Though the downside about the charm was that it had a forty-eight hour lifespan, since he had opted to cast a weaker one that wouldn't be felt by Dumbledore or people more sensitive to magic, so he had to do it the day before the task or it wouldn't be of any help. Which lead to his tiredness, it was past three am and he wanted nothing more than to sleep. As his head hit the pillow he hadn't even remembered that he hadn't thought about how to get his hostage since this time Dobby hadn't popped up with gillyweed to save the day.
The following morning he dragged himself to the shore of the Black Lake and for a moment thought he was back at the Quidditch World Cup when he reached the platform.
He didn't remember there being so many people present in the second task. Seeing his look Cedric shot him a wiry grin.
"It's because of you." Cedric told him. Harry just stared at him confused and Cedric shook his head, "You created a dragon out of fire in the first task. You awed the masses. So now everyone wants to see what you do next. To be honest even we are quite anxious to see what you come up with. I am not ashamed to say that we were quite outclassed by you in the first task." Harry saw Krum and Fleur nod, there was even a look of respect in their eyes.
He glanced at the crowd again and almost sighed. They wanted a show. Well, now wasn't really a good time to tell them that he had no idea what to do, was it?
Before he could do anything else Bagman was telling them to get ready and explaining the task to the crowd. Harry glanced at the other champions and saw them looking at him from the corner of their eyes. Then they were off and he stayed right were he was.
He could feel the eyes of everyone on him and he almost sighed; well at least he knew where is hostage was, now he just needed to think of a way to get there.
Then his eyes opened wide and he laughed. The watching crowd fell silent when they heard his laughter and a smirk spread on his face. They wanted a show, didn't they? Something grand and awe inspiring. Well, he would give them something biblical.
His wand fell into his hand and with a lazy grace, that he didn't even know he had, he pointed at the Black Lake.
It may not be a sea but he was sure that it would be just as grand.
He willed the water to part, to move. It resisted, it had nowhere to go. So he directed it upwards. He urged it to touch the sky. And it did. Two gigantic walls of water rose into the air, parting in the middle, creating a clear path towards the hostages. He could see Luna amongst them, the only one not under water. She was awake and when she looked up she waved dreamily at him.
Again the crowd was silent. All eyes locked on the impossibility they were witnessing. He willed a small wave to separate itself from the mass of water around it, and to form a small sphere around Luna's legs. It did and with just a touch of gravity added to the mix the water became a comfortable pillow. Luna sat on it and he willed it towards him, slowly and carefully so that Luna wouldn't fall.
He kept an eye on the walls of water, just to make sure they were holding up and he caught sight of Cedric and Fleur staring out at him from on of the walls. Their eyes wide and disbelieving. He winked at them cheekily and he saw Cedric shake his head.
A moment later Luna reached him and got up from her watery pillow.
"Hi, little Death." she whispered to him, a smile on her lips.
"Hello, little Moon. Did you have a nice nap?" he smiled, ignoring the still silent crowd.
"Yes, it was very refreshing, though a little wet."
He laughed and willed the water back. Like a waterfall the walls dropped back, leaving a rainbow in their wake. It was truly beautiful.
He turned towards the judges and smiled at them.
"I have my hostage." he told them, breaking the silence.
A heartbeat later there was thunderous clapping all over the grounds.
Suffice to say the crowd had enjoyed the show.
They had almost swarmed him when the other champions had returned. Fortunately he had managed to escape, though it had been a near thing. However his victory was short lived. The Gryffindors were of the opinion that he was far to good to just have a small party in their common room, so the Weasley twins had commandeered the Great Hall and sent invitations to any and all students that wanted to join the party. He guessed that even the professors were impressed with his use of magic because none of them said a thing when they found out, though he had caught Snape glaring at him hatefully a time or two.
He was rather surprised to see that almost every student in the school had been present; even the Slytherins and the other champions.
Though out of them all it had been the Slytherins that had surprised him the most. They had congratulated him, and he had seen true respect shine in their eyes. Malfoy was still a little ponce, even if he had kept his distance, but those he had talked to had been quite pleasant. He supposed that it shouldn't have surprised him. If there was one thing that Slytherins respected it was power and it was being revealed that Harry had that in spades.
"You know what I am," he said when he saw the wonder in Tom's eyes, "Does it really surprise you that I did what I did?"
"Surprise? No, not really. However it doesn't change the fact that it was a stunning display and I would not think less of you if you were tired."
Harry smiled at him and got up from his armchair by the fire.
"It wasn't as tiring as the dragon. The fire... it was somewhat sentient after I gave it form. I must have infused a little of Life into the fire so it was harder to control. The water was quite easier in comparison. All I did was change it's path a bit. So, yes, I'm sure." he explained and Tom's eyes lit up with interest.
It always amused him to see that Tom was a scholar at heart. A scholar with slight sadistic tendencies but a scholar nonetheless.
"Alright." Tom nodded and got up from behind his desk. He wasn't able to hide the excited gleam in his eyes and Harry grinned at him. He felt just as exhilarated as Tom, this was the first step.
They left Tom's study, Harry was almost bouncing of the walls, and Tom smiled at him.
"Now," Tom said, stopping before the closed doors, "Can you sit still for a few minutes?"
Harry glared at him and marched into the room, leaving an exasperated Tom behind. He sat down and smirk at Tom when he walked in.
Tom sighed and shook his head. He was getting used to Harry's moods and knew there was no use in arguing with him. He conjured an identical seat and placed it next to Harry's. He glanced at the sniveling little rat who shuffled forward. Sneering at the pathetic excuse for a wizard he pressed his wand to the dark mark. His eyes flew to Harry when he heard the snicker coming from him when the rat whimpered. A smirk spread on his lips when he saw the sadistic glee in Harry's eyes. The teen hid it well, but there were this moments when the mask slipped and the slight insanity that plagued him showed through.
As soon as he lifted his wand from the mark the rat scampered backward, cradling the arm against his chest.
They waited in silence and moments later they started to appear. A smirk spread on his lips when he saw just how shocked most of them looked. The fear in some of them was almost palpable and he could feel Harry's excitement grow.
When ten minutes had come and gone and no more Death Eaters appeared he got up from his seat.
"My Death Eaters," his red eyes took them all in and a few flinched, "I see you still come when I call." he spoke in a deadly whisper and was quite pleased with their reactions. He didn't enjoy causing them fear, well... actually he did, however he knew that he couldn't keep their loyalty with only fear. Though this time it was deserved, these followers had forsaken him. They may have still believed in his ideals, but they had forsaken their Lord. It wasn't something that could go unpunished, "Strange how you all appear before me now, when for the last fourteen years none of you as much as looked for me. I have to wonder why that is."
"I can tell you why..." Harry remarked, capturing the attention of every Death Eater in the room. He could feel their confusion. He didn't blame them. He doubted that anyone would have imagined that particular teen sitting beside him as if he belonged there.
He really had to stop thinking about Harry as a teen. Logically he knew that Harry was almost as old as he, but he looked so young. Sometimes it was easy to forget.
"Can you?" he asked curiously, turning to smirk at him.
"Yes." Harry stated, an answering smirk on his lips. He got up from his seat and practically prowled around the Death Eaters. Sometimes he looked at one of them for longer, the shadows thickening and Tom contained a smirk when he saw just how uncomfortable most of them became. Finally he seemed to have picked his target.
Slowly Harry's hand raised from his side and carefully dropped the hood of the Death Eater, as soon as the hood was down the mask dissolved and Harry's hand gripped the long blond strands. He forced Lucius down to his level, his lips tracing the outer shell of Lucius' left ear.
"Dear Lucius was only thinking about his little boy. If he had gone to Azkaban who would have spoiled rotten the little menace? Yes, he couldn't have done that from Azkaban." Harry's sharp green eyes caught his and a wicked smirk spread on his lips, "Truthfully, the brat may have been better off if Lucius had gone to Azkaban. Maybe he wouldn't have turned out to be such a whiny bitch."
It happened in a heartbeat.
Lucius snarled and pulled his wand, however, before he could even open his mouth, he had a wand pressed against his neck.
Tom stayed where he was, taking everything in. All the other Death Eaters fell completely silent.
"Try it, Malfoy." Barty's voice was filled with deadly intent and he saw the promise of pain in his eyes.
"Barty." Harry called him, a soft smile on his lips.
Barty's wand arm dropped and he bowed his head.
"My Lord." Tom was sure that he wasn't the only one that caught the affection in Barty's tone. He narrowed his eyes, not really sure whom he was angrier at, Barty or Lucius.
"Your Lord?" Lucius sneered, looking between Harry and Barty, for the moment ignoring Tom. Tom arched a brow, Harry must have really hit a nerve for Lucius to lose his composure to such an extreme, "Did you turn traitor, Crouch? How dare you call the brat your Lord?"
"Me turn traitor?" Barty's voice was still a deadly whisper, "You dare call me a traitor? You who renegaded our Lord as soon as the aurors came calling? I was always faithful, always!" Harry was now standing beside Barty, his hand resting on Barty's forearm, "And yes, I proudly call Harry my Lord. He deserves it just as much as our Lord."
Even Tom was a little surprised at the fierceness of the statement. He saw Harry smile at Barty, full of affection and he couldn't stop himself.
Before anyone could blink his wand was out and the next moment a curse left his lips.
Lucius screamed; though his screams only satisfied him a little. A part of him wished it had been Barty writhing on the floor, screaming in pain.
"Now that I have your attention," he said drily, stopping the curse, "I believe we were addressing your failure in assisting me over the last decade." the Death Eaters tensed again and he smirked, "Yes, I can understand some not coming to my aid, those like the Lestranges that are trapped in Azkaban or like Barty who has been under the Imperius for the last decade; however all of you have no such excuse." he relished in their fear and his anger at Barty deflated slightly when he saw the true devotion to him in his eyes.
Followers such as Barty were truly hard to come by. Barty had joined him not out of greed or fear but because he truly believed in him. Barty knew the truth about him and didn't think less of him. He almost sighed, even if Barty was one of the best Death Eaters he had he wasn't sure he would be able to control himself when it came to Harry. He was never known for his self-control, and it hadn't gotten better over the years. He could only hope that Barty knew that there were certain lines that he shouldn't cross.
Lucius got back on his feet and Tom's eyes fixed on him.
"Tell me, Lucius, is Harry correct?" Harry had walked back to the throne and was leaning against it, his eyes locked on Lucius as well. Tom smirked when he saw the innocent, little smile on Harry's lips. Really, when looking at him no one would be able to guess that Harry was as dark as he was.
"My Lord, I would never-" Lucius started, his voice wavering just a tad.
"Do not lie to me!" Tom exclaimed, unleashing his magic. The assembled Death Eaters shuddered and Harry chuckled darkly; Tom's magic felt incredible, "You would! You did! I could have understood if you had done it to stay free so that you could search for me, but you didn't. You didn't even look. None of you did!" he snarled and they cowered in front of him, as they should, "But do not worry. I am merciful and as such will forgive you. Though, make no mistake, I will not forget."
"They can start making it up to you now." Harry whispered from his seat on the throne and a wicked smirk spread on Tom's lips.
"Yes, I suppose they can." he murmured, taking the seat beside Harry, "As some of you may be wondering, Harry is my ally. He is as much your Lord as I am, you will obey him as you obey me." the shock they were feeling was almost palpable and Tom could see several of them just itching to say something. He wondered if any of them would be bold enough to try. He glanced at Lucius and had to stop himself from chuckling, apparently he wouldn't be wondering for long.
"My Lord, please forgive me, but Potter?" Lucius couldn't quite mask the contempt in his tone and Tom arched an eyebrow, "Surely he's nothing more than a little brat, what could he possibly have to offer to our cause?"
Barty snorted, his eyes were full of scorn when they looked at the blond and Tom could see his wand hand twitching.
"Do you have something to add, Barty?" he asked nonchalantly, leaning back on his throne.
"No, my Lord." Barty replied with a deep bow, "I was just surprised at Malfoy's stupidity and self-importance."
"Is that so?" he drawled. He had to agree with Barty though. Lucius and, from what he had heard, his son were nothing like Abraxas. They were so caught up in their own self-importance that they sometimes ignored what was right in front of them. Apparently Harry's obvious power was one of those things.
"Yes, my Lord." Barty answered, "Any witch or wizard worth their salt would have realized that my Lord Harry is an incredibly powerful wizard. They wouldn't even have to think about it all that much, or even know him, it's plastered in every newspaper."
"Oh, please, you can't truly believe that nonsense about the tasks. It must be rigged so that the boy comes out as the next Merlin; Dumbledore's doing, no doubt." Lucius scoffed.
This time Tom didn't even try to stop his chuckle. Dark amusement flashed in his eyes and he shared a malicious smile with Harry.
"You should know, Lucius, the tasks were not rigged." Tom told the blond, "I was there for both of them." he informed his Death Eaters, "Harry's magic was quite exquisite. Every person present could almost taste his power. It was breathtaking." he couldn't help but add. It still amazed him just how enchanting both tasks had been. Elementals were truly terrifying beings.
"Y-you... you were there, my Lord?" Lucius stuttered, his mask slipping a little.
"I was." he confirmed, "I have been back for a while now." he continued when he saw the curiosity in their eyes, "Since the beginning of November in fact." he could see their confusion and his smirk got a little bit bigger, "Harry came to me after Samhain, he gave me my body back and in return only asked for me to hear him out. I did. We came to the conclusion that we have several things in common and agreed to a partnership." he explained. He knew he had no obligation to tell them anything, however he didn't want his Death Eaters to constantly fight Harry. He knew Harry could handle himself, but Harry's patience wasn't limitless and he didn't want to lose too many followers because of their stupidity. Besides, he was sure that Harry would earn their respect soon enough, "Does that answer your questions, Lucius?" there was a sharp edge in his tone, warning Lucius not to push his luck.
"Yes, my Lord." Lucius replied with a deep bow.
Satisfied Tom nodded and surveyed the other Death Eaters. They were all looking at Harry curiously, no doubt wondering how Harry had given him a body back, about what powers he had. It was clear that they were a little more apprehensive about Harry's presence than they had been previously. It was likely that they considered him more of a threat now. If he didn't know just who Harry was he might have worried about what the Death Eaters could do to him, though since he knew it only caused a sense of amusement to fill him. He would love to see how Harry dealt with the fools who tried something against him.
"Now, as Harry stated, you can start to make it up to me." he saw them shift nervously and he chuckled darkly, "It is time to break my faithful out of Azkaban!" he exclaimed and the Death Eaters paled.
Their reaction didn't really surprise him. Azkaban wasn't a place for the faint of heart, even he didn't like to go there. However there wasn't much of a choice. Harry and he had gone over numerous ways to get his followers out and the most practical was to raid Azkaban. Aside from it being the most practical it was also the one that had the greatest impact.
A wake-up call for the Wizarding World, Harry had said.
In any other situation he may have argued about making such a commotion. Laying low may have been a better idea, however he could understand where Harry was coming from. The sooner they had control over the Wizarding World the sooner they could deal with the muggles. If he gave them no time to mount their defenses, or for Dumbledore to assemble his Order than they would have a much easier time in taking over. They were counting on the Minister being his usual incompetent self and attribute the breakout to Black, like they had done in Harry's previous life, and if they took into consideration that this time there was no Harry Potter claiming the Dark Lord was back they believed that the sheep would swallow everything the Daily Prophet printed.
They were aware that things could go wrong; however, truth be told, neither of them was all that worried about it. If it went wrong, then it went wrong. They would simply have to tweak their plans a little. One way or another they would have the Wizarding world in the palm of their hands and they would exterminate those damn muggles before they became too big of a threat. They just couldn't afford not to.
"Tonight we will storm Azkaban and free my faithful servants!" he exclaimed, "We will continue where we left of and take the Wizarding World. We will bring our world back to it's former glory and exterminate those filthy muggles! We will bring forth a new age! An age of magic and freedom for all of us!" the Death Eaters cheered, losing their pale coloring. He could see the fire in their eyes and it pleased him greatly to see that they still had that spark, that fire in them. They hadn't become lackluster bureaucrats in his absence; they were still his Death Eaters, filled with passion and fire, but most of all longing for a world where magic reigned, "After we have our fellow comrades with us, we will take up arms once more! We will fight for a world where we do not have to hide in our homes to practice our gift! A world where we do not have to fear for our children' safety, a world where we do not have to live in fear of being discovered! I am back, ready to once again fight for our dream and after tonight the whole world will know it!" the Death Eaters cheered and clapped, their fear forgotten in the wake of their desire to once again fight for their cause. He sat back down and glanced at Harry. He saw a small smile playing on his lips. He looked extremely pleased and Tom couldn't help but ask, "What?"
"You truly are something else," Harry replied, there was a trace of wonder in his tone that he didn't even try to mask, "I always knew, of course, but it's quite different seeing it. I'm truly glad to have you on my side, you actually make me believe that we could do it."
Tom could detect nothing but honesty in his tone and felt like puffing his chest like some proud peacock. It was absurd how such honest praise from Harry made him feel like he could do anything, more than that, it made him believe that he was doing something right. It was ridiculous, of course, but he couldn't help but feel that way.
He may make Harry believe that they could do it, but Harry made him want to do it.
He smiled at Harry, not really knowing how to convey his appreciation but knowing that Harry would understand either way, and looked back at his Death Eaters.
It was time.
Harry couldn't quite suppress the shiver that ran down his back when they landed on the shores of Azkaban.
"Are you alright?" Tom whispered, making sure that the Death Eaters couldn't hear him.
$I'm fine,$ Harry replied in parseltongue and Tom almost groaned. He never knew that parseltongue could sound so enticing, $Azkaban was my home for a while.$
$Your home?$ he couldn't quite hide his shock.
$Yes,$ Harry nodded, his eyes shadowed by untold horrors, $Azkaban was one of the last magical structures that the muggles destroyed. They were terrified of it, they couldn't see the dementors, but every time a muggle even came close to the shores they would slip into a coma, or so the muggles believed. The dementors sided with us, you see.$ there was a slightly vindictive smirk on Harry's lips.
Tom listened to every word with rapt attention. It was always fascinating to hear about Harry's life, even if most of it was truly gruesome. Even so he liked to hear about everything Harry told him, it made him even more determined to deal with the muggles.
$We won't let that happen again.$ Tom told him, $You already dealt with the squib, you already changed the future. Now we just have to deal with the muggles.$
$What if they find us before we can deal with them?$ that had been a real fear he had. What if the muggles found them sooner? Harry knew it wasn't likely, even in his previous life they had only found them so quickly because of White, though he didn't fool himself into thinking that they wouldn't have found them eventually.
$They won't!$ Tom stated fiercely, $We'll have the Wizarding World in our hands soon, and then we'll deal with the muggles. However, if you wish, we could start to look into ways to handle them.$
Harry smiled at him and nodded his head. The sooner they started the better, even if he had bought them time by killing White.
Seeing that Harry was back to normal, Tom turned around towards his Death Eaters. He smirked when he saw their wide eyed looks. Harry and he hadn't been talking all that loudly, however parseltongue had a way of being heard even when it was nothing more than a whisper. It carried on the wind, reaching everyone who was near. He could guess that none of them actually knew that Harry was a parselmouth, even with the Chamber of Secrets fiasco. Maybe they hadn't believed the rumors that had been flying around that year, either way they seemed rather surprised.
"We will be separated into two teams." he told them, and the Death Eaters straightened up, "I'll break down the wards and my team and I will release the prisoners in the lower levels. Lord Phobos-"
"Phobos? Really?" Harry looked at him incredulously, though there was a slight smirk pulling at his lips.
"You can't be called Lord Harry, you just can't." Tom stated firmly, "I'll not have my co-ruler be called something as unoriginal as Dark Lord Harry." he ignored the somewhat gaping Death Eaters and the smirking Barty.
"Alright, I can see your point. Still, why Phobos?"
"Because, my dear Phobos, soon you'll be their biggest fear." Tom smirked at him, "When they realize that their Savior sided with me... Can you see it? Fear... that's what you'll be to them."
Harry shook his head and chuckled. He wasn't sure if Tom was talking about the muggles or about the wizards who'll stand against them, though in the long run it didn't really matter. He had already come to terms with it, and supposed that Tom was right. No matter what they will fear him. He nodded and Tom gave a feral grin.
"As I was saying, Lord Phobos' team will deal with the higher levels. All of you have portkeys, they'll activate after ten seconds when they come into contact with someone, so that is all the time you have from the moment you separate them from their chains." Tom informed them, "Lucius, Barty, Mulciber, Avery, and Nott you'll be with Lord Phobos. Everyone else with me."
$Why did you give me three Inner Circle members?$
$Because I know they'll obey and keep the others in line.$ Tom replied, $Not that I don't trust your ability in dealing with them, however I want to have this done before reinforcements arrive. Barty will do anything you say and won't let any of the others disrespect you. Lucius will follow your lead because he knows what will happen if he doesn't. Nott will obey because he's testing you, he's measuring your worth. Izar has always been that way. Even with me. He observed first, measured my worth and when he reached a conclusion followed me wholeheartedly. It will be the same with you. Seeing three Inner Circle present will make Mulciber and Avery follow their lead.$
$Alright. I don't like it, but I understand.$
Tom nodded and turned towards his Death Eaters once more.
"The dementors will side with us, however it would be best to cast Patronus charms; it will help with the prisoners if nothing else. Those of you who can't cast a Patronus stay close to those who can." he looked at all of them, nodded once and turned towards Azkaban; his group following after him.
Harry stayed behind with his group. The Death Eaters were looking at him, not even trying to mask their curiosity.
"Alright," he turned towards them, "Lord Voldemort," he almost snorted when he saw most of them flinch. He glanced at Nott when he noticed that he hadn't. He had expected it from Barty, so he had to wonder what the relationship between Nott and Voldemort was. It had to be more than Master/Servant for Nott to not react as the others did, "Will take a few minutes to bring down the wards, after they are down we will apparate to the upper levels. The sooner we are done with it the better. Aside from Barty, are any of you familiar with Azkaban?"
"I came to visit my son, my Lord." Nott replied.
"And I came to visit my sister-in-law at the request of my wife, however I was not near their cell." Lucius told him, his tone far more respectful than it had been previously, however there was still a slight trace of contempt in his eyes.
Harry had to wonder if the proud Malfoy Lord would ever call him his Lord. He somehow doubted that the man would ever deem him worthy of his respect, if for nothing else then because of his blood. Even in later years the Malfoy family had always been incredibly proud, not even the muggles had broken them. He remembered how he had found them; even then, when they had been naked, chained to a table and bleeding, they had still not been broken. They had still sneered, and behaved as if everyone else was beneath them. The only time Harry had ever seen them slightly broken was when they had found the bodies of Narcissa and Scorpius. No matter what people may have said about her, the woman had truly loved her family. Harry couldn't even imagine the tortures she had gone through to protect her grandson.
If he were honest, he hadn't taken their deaths well either. He had kept correspondence with Narcissa after the war with Voldemort, at first it had only been a letter to thank her for the risk she had taken, he had never expected for her to reply, but she did. After that they kept corresponding and he came to see her as a beloved aunt, he knew she had regarded him just as fondly. And Scorpius had been his youngest son's best friend and James' boyfriend. They had gotten together a few years into the war and Harry had never seen his son as broken as when they had found Scorpius dead.
He may not like Draco all that much, and he may do everything he could to aggravate Lucius, but he would never truly wish them harm, if for no other reason than to respect the memory of Narcissa and Scorpius.
"Your cell was near the Lestranges, right?" he asked, looking at Barty.
"Yes, we were tossed into the same level, since we were considered some of the most dangerous prisoners they had. They were a few cells down from mine. Black was there as well."
"As soon as the wards are down we will apparate inside. Those of you that don't know Azkaban will partner up with those who do. There are four upper levels; Barty, you'll take your floor. Nott is your son in the same level as Barty?"
"No, my Lord. He's on the second upper level."
"Then you'll take that one. Malfoy, where were you taken?"
"The visitation rooms, on the first floor of the upper level."
"Then you'll take that one. Mulciber you'll go with Nott, and you Avery with Malfoy. Firstly you'll free the Death Eaters, if you have time free the others as well. If they decide to join the Dark Lord Voldemort then we'll add them to our ranks, if not, then we'll kill them. Barty you'll be with me. We'll take the two last floors. Any questions?"
"How much time do we have?" Malfoy asked, keeping his tone respectful.
"Until the alarms go off. Voldemort wants to avoid engaging the aurors, so as soon as the alarms go off we'll leave. We believe that Fudge will blame the breakout on Sirius, so if anyone asks you at the Ministry you'll encourage that."
Malfoy nodded, his gaze looking a little more contemplative than usual.
The next moment they felt magic buzzing in the air and the wards came crashing down.
"Well, get going." Harry ordered, walking towards Barty.
They apparated with a soft crack and Harry smiled at Barty.
"Are you sure you want to go?" Harry asked him, "I'll understand if you don't want to."
"As if I would let you go alone." Barty scoffed, "I won't even ask how you would know where to go."
"I'm familiar with Azkaban." was all Harry said, ignoring Barty's eye roll, "Let's go." he grabbed Barty's arm and apparated them away.
They landed in front of Sirius' old cell and Harry felt no dementors around. He suspected that Tom was talking with them, coming to some sort of agreement. He had to talk to Tom about that. It would be amusing to let them roam amongst the muggles. He was sure that it would provide for countless hours of entertainment for Tom and him; they could even make a sport out of it.
He felt Barty shudder beside him and glanced at him. He looked a little paler than usual and Harry grimaced when Barty's hold on him grew uncomfortable.
"Are you sure you want to come?" he asked again. He could do it on his own, Bellatrix may be a little harder to deal with without Barty there but aside from that he didn't think there would be any trouble.
"I'm not leaving you." Barty told him seriously, "It's not even the dementors I'm worried about." he added, "Bella wasn't all that right in the head to begin with, who knows how she'll be after all this time in Azkaban. I don't even want to think about how she would react to seeing you."
"Barty, I doubt she would know who I am." he tried to reason, even if he had similar thoughts.
"I hate to break it to you, but you are rather unmistakable. I knew who you were the first time I saw you." Barty informed him, "Those eyes... well, there aren't that many people with that color."
"My mother's eyes." he remarked.
"No, not really." Barty commented, "You're mother's eyes were darker. Yours may have the same shape, but yours are the same color as the killing curse."
Harry had to look away when he saw how intently Barty was looking at him. Barty was the first person to tell him that his eyes were different from his mother's. Though he had always thought the same too, he always thought that his mother's eyes were far more beautiful. That's why he always said that his son, Al, had his mother's eyes. Even if Ginny insisted that they were his eyes too.
"Let's get started," he said, changing the subject, "We don't have a lot of time, Tom wants to avoid a conflict with the aurors."
Barty nodded, starting to search the cells for prisoners. The ones closest to them were empty, aside from two. Though Harry glanced at them and knew that there was no need to portkey them back to the manor; they had been Kissed. He grimaced at looked away. He had become quite used to seeing muggles without their souls, but they died after a few days. Wizards however could survive for a very long time, he had almost forgotten how a wizard looked after being Kissed. A muggle looked as if he had slipped into a coma, a wizard looked like a doll. Their eyes opened but not seeing, glazed over and empty. It was quite creepy, since they could move on their own. They just had no drive to do it.
They started opening the cells and giving the confused prisoners the portkeys. He couldn't remember who Tom had assigned to look after the arriving prisoners but he sure hoped that he had left enough people behind to keep them in order. He was almost sure that most of the Death Eaters would at least try to cause a commotion. At least the ones in the lower levels. He doubted that those in the upper levels would have the energy to do much of anything.
He stopped in his tracks when they reached the Lestrange cells. Bellatrix was looking right at him and even after all this time he still felt the urge to curse her into next week. And this time he was sure that his Cruciatus would keep her down for a long time.
"My Lord?" she whispered, looking at him intently. Her whisper caught the attention of the prisoners on either side of her. Rodolphus and Rabastan looked at him just as intently, however their eyes caught the movement at his side and their eyes locked on Barty at his side.
They almost gaped, an incredulous expression appearing on their faces. The most emotion he had ever seen on either brother.
"Barty?" Rabastan whispered.
Barty smiled brightly at them and Harry couldn't stop the fond smile that spread on his lips. It wasn't often that he saw Barty so happy. Barty had told him that he hadn't many friends at Hogwarts, the three Lestranges, then one Black and two Lestranges, were his best friends. From what Barty told him he guessed that their relationship was somewhat like his and Ron's and Hermione's had been.
"Yeah," Barty replied, "We came to get you out."
"We saw them throw out your body." Rodolphus told him, his eyes wide.
"It was my mother." Barty's voice had gone a little flat and Harry took his hand, knowing that Barty had loved his mother a lot. She had been the only support he had while growing up, "She begged my father to make the switch, she was already dying."
Rodolphus nodded solemnly. Harry supposed that he knew as well just how close Barty had been to his mother.
"We should hurry." Harry reminded him, making all four Death Eaters focus on him again.
"Who are you?" Rabastan asked.
Harry looked back at them and noticed that Bellatrix was still looking at him. Did he really look so much like Tom?
"He's Lord Phobos." Barty replied, "He's our new Lord. Our Lord introduced him to us a little while ago."
"Our Lord is back?" Bellatrix asked, looking just as obsessed as he remembered her.
"Yes," Barty told them, his grin just as manic as theirs, "Lord Phobos brought him back. We have our Lord back because of him."
They focused on him again and Rabastan narrowed his eyes slightly.
"He's familiar." he muttered, "Though he's far too young to have gone to school with us."
"His parents went to school with us, he takes after them a little." Barty didn't add more, still slightly unsure about how they would react to knowing that he was the Boy-Who-Lived.
"We really should hurry up," Harry pressed again, "We still have one level left and only a few minutes till the aurors show up. Give them the portkeys." he instructed, already moving towards the other cells. He ignored the eyes that he could feel following him. Their meeting had gone far better than he expected. There hadn't even been one single curse, as far as he was concerned it was a smashing success. He was sure that there would be problems as soon as they found out who he was, but he would let Tom deal with that. It was only right to let Tom handle the crazy Death Eaters... well... crazier Death Eaters.
"Will you be leaving now?" Tom asked when he saw Harry lingering in the hall with Barty. They had just arrived from the raid on Azkaban. Tom was quite happy with how it had turned out. They had gotten all the Death Eaters out and from what he had seen in the infirmary there would be a few others joining his ranks. There had been no confrontation with the aurors and they had the dementors on his side. He would have to talk with Harry about them, he was sure that Harry would have some ideas about how to use them. If everything went according to plan than Fudge would blame the breakout on Black and the public would remain blissfully unaware of his return. Both knew that Dumbledore would likely know it was he who had done it, but he doubted that Dumbledore would tell Fudge anything about his suspicions, especially because it was a well known fact that Lucius had Fudge in his pocket. They were relatively sure that Dumbledore would not tell the Minister anything until he had more concrete proof. Tom was sure that Dumbledore was just waiting for something to happen at the end of the Tournament, only then would Dumbledore act.
Harry turned around, stopping mid sentence, and Barty gave a slight bow.
"Yeah," Harry replied, "I want to be there when the news breaks. Besides, I have been away far longer than I should have and I don't have Barty to cover for me. Though, since he is with me we could always say that he was training me."
"More like serving as target practice." Barty muttered, and Tom glanced at him. He saw the fondness in Barty's eyes when he looked at Harry and had to grit his teeth. He absolutely despised just how close his Death Eater was to Harry, though he knew there was truly nothing he could do about it, at least for the moment.
Barty looked up and their eyes locked.
Tom saw all he needed to see there.
In this matter his Death Eater wouldn't back down.
In this matter he wouldn't force his Death Eater to submit.
A smirk graced his lips and he looked back at Harry. Harry would be his, nobody else was good enough to have Harry but him. It was as simple as that.
Harry woke up and he couldn't quite stop the smile from gracing his lips. He could hardly wait to see how everyone would react to the breakout. Panic would spread, at least he hoped it would. There was nothing better than a good dose of panic to start the day.
He snorted and shook his head, he was spending far to much time with Tom if he was starting to have such thoughts.
He got dressed and went down for breakfast, he knew he was a little early, but he wanted to be sure that he was there when the mail arrived. He could hardly wait to see Dumbledore's reaction. He was curious to see what the old man would do. Tom thought that he wouldn't act, Harry however was sure that Dumbledore would do something. Even after the little chat he had with the man, Harry had a feeling that the something would somehow involve him.
He sat down at the Gryffindor table, not even glancing up at the Head table. He did his best to look as if he were more asleep than awake, it was the best way to make sure that people stayed away from him. It was a known fact that he shouldn't be approached if he wasn't completely awake, since he had cursed that fifth year in his second year students tended to wait till he was completely awake to talk with him, and he wanted to be sure that he could enjoy the coming moments in peace.
Slowly the Great Hall started filling, students tumbling in, looking just as awake as he was pretending to be. He had to stop himself from grinning as the minutes ticked by.
When the first owl flew into the Great Hall he looked down. This was it.
The noise in the hall dropped drastically. He risked a glance around the hall and had to stop the smirk from appearing on his lips. They sure were awake now.
He glanced at the Daily Prophet headline.
'Azkaban emptied!'
It was one hell of a wake up call.
A.N.: Hello all :) it's been ages I know, I'm sorry about that. I've moved again and don't have Internet at home. Hopefully it will be up by the end of the month but I can't be sure. I'll be spending the next week at my cousins' so I'll use his Internet connection to post a few things. Hopefully I'll have my own up and running y the time I go back home.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It showed a bit more about how Tom will deal with Barty and Harry's relationship. He hates it, but he won't force Barty to back down. He his sure of himself, he believes that he will be able to sway Harry to his bed, without having to force Barty out of his life. We can't forget just how arrogant Tom is.
Next chapter Daddy!Death will be back and Harry gets to officially met the Lestranges, it's going to be a lot of fun :) We'll also have everyone's reactions to the breakout.