A/N: Thank you to my reviewer, Xenia Marvolo! Updates will continue weekly, regardless of review count, but more reviews would make me happy. :) Happy Reading!
After Potter had "returned" to Hogwarts, Lord Voldemort relaxed in his chair, mulling over the events of the past hour. Harry Potter--the Boy-Who-Lived; the Golden Boy; the Chosen One; his mortal enemy and prophesied challenger; the only one who could ever defeat him--was now deeply infatuated with him. The very thought made him want to howl with laughter. He settled for a slight chuckle, though, as he was always very careful never to show any strong emotion. He was alone, of course, but he'd been in the habit of never allowing anything to show for so long that he wasn't certain he was even capable of howling with laughter anymore. It required something unusually funny to even call forth a small chuckle from him. Well, this certainly fit the bill
He wondered which one of the silly chits at Hogwarts he had to thank for this golden opportunity. He hadn't looked at Potter's memory carefully enough to know. Ginevra Weasley had greatly admired the boy while he had possessed her, and the boy had seemed oblivious to her affections. No, not oblivious. Even the most idiotic of boys could hardly escape noticing a girl who was unable to speak in his presence. She'd even made the effort to send the idiot a Valentine as well! It had failed miserably, of course, and had only served to embarrass her in front of the entire school. Though Harry had been aware of her affections, he had ignored her, almost to the point of cruelty. Had little Ginny sunk even deeper into the dangerous waters of obsession?
Somehow, he didn't think so. She had never tried to fool herself about Harry's feelings, and he didn't think she would be able to live with herself if she knew that Harry only fancied her because of a love potion. She would win his affections fairly or not have them at all. He snorted at this example of Gryffindor fair play. Such a sense of honour had always allowed him to triumph over the Gryffindors during his own school days, and it seemed little had changed. But the potion-giver must have been someone else. Perhaps even a Slytherin girl? Underhanded tactics were far more characteristic of his house. He hadn't the faintest idea who it could be, but he'd heard from Lucius, who had heard from his son, Draco, that Harry had a flock of female admirers who vied desperately for his attention. That reminded him of his own time at Hogwarts, when admirers both male and female had fought constantly for the right to sit next to him, or walk to class with him, or other small opportunities to bask in his presence. He, unlike Potter, had taken advantage of it, and used their attraction to bind them to his will. And now he had the chance to do the same thing to Potter. Salazar, Fate must truly be smiling upon him!
Though he couldn't be sure exactly what potion Potter had been given, he rather thought it was Erodition. It was a simpler potion to produce than Amortentia, which meant that it couldreasonably have been within the potion-making skills of a student. It was also far more subtle, though over time almost equally dangerous. This potion caused a deep infatuation, one that would not fade with time. It required an antidote for its effects to be nullified. The girl who gave him the potion must have been fully confident in her looks, and her ability to get Potter to immediately consume whatever food or drink she had concealed the potion in. While Amortentia smelled of whatever a person was attracted to, Erodition simply emitted a pleasing aroma that subtly encouraged a person to consume it. It caused infatuation with the first person one laid eyes on after drinking it, but it only worked if there was already a physical attraction. The potion worked by building on the spark of physical attraction in order to create a stronger emotion. He wondered if the Potter boy was even aware of being attracted to men, and if the boy was attracted to men exclusively. It could explain why his female admirers, including the ardent Miss Weasley, had all failed. Not that it really mattered to the current situation.
How fortuitous that this encounter had happened after the Horcrux incident had given him back his old face! He was fairly certain that Potter hadn't felt even the smallest bit of physical attraction to the scaly face that had been his before the incident. If he had to lose a Horcrux, well, at least he was being offered some recompense! And even though Dumbledore knew of his Horcruxes, the ones that remained were safe, he was sure of it. He didn't lose anything by telling Potter of them. Dumbledore knew, and the old fool would certainly confide in his little pawn soon enough. Telling Potter would make the boy trust in him, especially knowing that Lord Voldemort had given information that Dumbledore would not. The pawn was no longer in Dumbledore's hands.
Yes, this was the perfect opportunity. He would lead Harry on, pretending to return his affections. Harry would eventually tell him everything, even things his spy Severus was unable to tell. Harry would tell him everything about the idiots in the Order of the Phoenix. The old fool, Dumbledore, trusted Harry implicitly, and would likely share his plans with the boy, who would then tell him. Though he could use Legilimency to simply take the information from Potter's mind, that would be a terribly time-consuming process. Legilimency to find one answer was simple--as it typically only required accessing one memory. However, using it to find a block of information was decidedly more difficult, and it was far easier to miss crucial details. Each person had a different way of organizing their mind; it was a way unique to them, and one that only he or she could understand and use. So while accessing memories out of your own mind was simple, finding all of a person's knowledge and memories about a subject was extremely difficult. Coercion was generally a far easier way to do that. Not to mention how delicious it would be to have Potter willingly give him the information he needed to destroy the child. He would even finally get the full prophecy. No, he wouldn't be repeating that mistake. He would hear the whole prophecy before attempting to kill Potter again.
He wondered if he could get Potter to take the Dark Mark. He rather thought that he could. Indeed, he could train Potter to become his most powerful and loyal follower. Though he hated to admit it, the boy was powerful, maybe even as powerful as he himself was. But Potter lacked focus. On his own, he would never come into his rightful power. Or rather, as Dumbledore's pawn, he would never come into his rightful power. Perhaps the old fool was unsure of his ability to keep Potter under control if the boy should ever realize just how much power he held.
Lord Voldemort felt no such uncertainty. He would encourage Potter to put more effort into his studies. And he would train the boy himself. Just the fact that Lord Voldemort was teaching him to fulfil his potential would further cement the boy's loyalty to him. Potter would help him in his pursuit of control of the Wizarding world. Potter would lie for him. Potter would steal for him. Potter would torture for him. Potter would kill for him. And when he had accomplished his goals, when Dumbledore was dead and the Wizarding world lay at his feet, he would kill Potter.
His first thought was to give Potter the antidote to the love potion a few minutes before killing him, and to watch as the horror of everything he had done fell into those green eyes. Yes, it would be brilliant to watch as Potter struggled to retain his sanity after the realization came. Perhaps it would break the boy entirely.
He frowned at that thought. There was little pleasure in tormenting or killing the insane. As he had told Potter two years ago in the graveyard, he wanted to see the light leave those green eyes. Eyes the same colour as the curse that had bound their minds together, the colour of the curse that would eventually kill the boy.
Perhaps instead he would allow Potter to spend the rest of his life under the influence of the potion. This potion would never wear off; in fact its hold only tightened with time. So if he was never given an antidote, he would never stop believing that he loved Lord Voldemort. It would also be terribly delicious to watch Potter's eyes as he realized that he was going to be killed by his 'beloved.' Potter would spend his last moments in recrimination, wondering how he had failed the man he loved, and would die believing he deserved it.
To give Potter the antidote at the end, or not? Both plans had their potential benefits, and the matter deserved consideration. A feral smile came over his face. He certainly had plenty of time to think on it.