::Ducks to avoid thrown fruits, vegetables, and shoes::

I know, I know! It's been absolutely forever since I've updated! I am a terrible, terrible author! And I haven't responded to any reviews in a really long time!

But I do promise that I will not ever abandon this story. I might not be getting updates out as quickly as I'd like, but they will come!

Chapter 19

The next morning, Harry was the first to rise. For a moment, he drowsed contentedly, admiring the perfection of the man next to him. Said man was wearing nothing but a pair of black silk boxers, through which a morning erection was poking out. Suddenly, Harry had a magnificent idea.

Cautiously and quietly, he moved down the bed. Realizing that it would not be possible to manually remove the boxers without waking the man up, he drew his wand from the bedside table and cast a silent Evanesco. Tom twitched a bit in his sleep, and Harry held his breath. Luckily, Tom turned over onto his back and continued sleeping. Well, if that wasn't a sign to continue, Harry didn't know what was.

He crept lower and lower on Tom's body, and slowly reached his destination. He was fairly nervous about what he was about to do. Nobody had ever done it to him. He'd never even seen it done. What if he did something wrong? But lying there, staring at the proud shaft, Harry's desire overwhelmed his fear. He opened his mouth, and gently took in the tip of Tom's cock. It twitched in response, almost like it was alive, and Harry gasped and let go.

Okay, he should have known that would happen. Attempt number two. This time, Harry tried a different tactic. He tentatively reached his tongue out, and licked like he was eating an ice cream cone. He did it again. And again. Soon, his tongue was moving rapidly along the shaft, and Harry lost himself in the process of discovering exactly how Tom's body responded to each little swipe.

And then he glanced up, and saw red eyes looking down at him.

Harry's first reaction was to freeze. All his doubts came rushing back to him. What if he was doing something wrong? What if Tom didn't like it? What if he had hurt Tom? And then he saw the look in those red eyes. The eyes that shone down at him were overflowing with lust and desire. Harry knew in that moment that he must be doing something right.

He'd thought it would be embarrassing for Tom to watch him while he did this, but actually, it was just arousing. He kept his eyes linked with Tom's as he licked and sucked, enjoying the reactions he could see there. He could feel Tom's emotions through their link, and the combined force of their lust was driving him crazy. Without knowing just why, he reached a hand up to stroke Tom's nipple. Within seconds, Tom was pushed over the edge.

"Good morning to you, too," Tom quipped when he could finally speak again.

Harry smiled. "So, when exactly did you wake up?" he asked.

"Just after your little Vanishing spell."

"And you didn't let me know you were awake?"

"It seemed like you had plans, and that those plans would involve great benefit to myself. Why would I have revealed information that could have disrupted those plans?"

"Slytherin," Harry chuckled, throwing a pillow at Tom.

The pillow was hit by a Banishing charm, and bounced back to hit Harry in the face. "Indubitably," Tom replied. "Now get dressed—as pleasant as that was, we have other plans for this day."

HPLVHPLVHPLVHPLVHPLVHPLVHPLVHPLVHPLVHPLVHPLVHPLVHPLV

Tom and Harry, or rather, Lord Voldemort and his Consort, entered the meeting hall fifteen minutes late, though of course no one would comment on that. Instead, the members of the Inner Circle greeted them with bows and curtsies, and a few quiet "Good morning, my Lords," were offered. Though none were crazy enough to speak out, an undercurrent of disquiet went through the Death Eaters who were not so privileged as to be part of the Inner Circle. It was obvious that they were wondering who the masked man at their Lord's side was, and why he was being given the same deference as their Lord. It was absolutely unprecedented.

Lord Voldemort expected the unease, however, he was not about to explain himself. Instead, as the two had planned, he allowed Harry to give the first command of the morning. "Good morning, gentlemen, ladies," Harry's voice arrogantly drawled. "You may resume your seats." The members of the Inner Circle did so, and the rest tensed. No one sat without the permission of Lord Voldemort. A man had been killed for that mistake.

But three seconds later, when no one had been killed, or even punished, for obeying the mysterious new figure, the quickest of the Outer Circle soldiers also sat down, and tugged the sleeves of their fellows to get them to do the same. "Tonight, at 5:30 pm, we will apparate to a set of coordinates located just outside of Auror Training Headquarters," Harry began. "We will remain just outside of the proximity wards, as well as under Disillusionment charms. From there, we will surround the camp, destroy their wards, and establish our own anti-apparation wards to prevent escape."

Harry pulled out his wand and muttered a spell to project an image of the headquarters site. Lord Voldemort picked up the briefing. "Once the safeguards have been established, teams Alpha and Beta, led by Alecto and Amycus, will maintain the perimeter guard. Their duty will be to prevent escape on foot, and to watch for any additional aid that may be summoned. Teams Gamma and Delta, led by Lucius and Rodolphus, will approach entrance number one." As he spoke, Harry caused the map to zoom in on the mentioned entrance, and the words 'entrance number one' to appear over it. "As you can see," Voldemort gestured to the map, "this is the north most entrance. It is also the main gate, and as such, will be the most heavily guarded."

He continued laying out the initial plan of attack, and Harry continued to manipulate the map to show whatever part was being discussed at the moment. After the attack plan was completely explained, Harry spoke again.

"The purpose of this mission is recruitment, not annihilation, so once you are within the compound, slay only the officers. Do not kill the recruits. Take their wands, bind them, and stun them. Some of them are trained in the use of weapons other than wands, so be certain to remove all weapons from their possession. Do not snap the wands that you take. If any of those taken prisoner escape, the person responsible will be severely punished."

The briefing concluded at noon, and lunch was served. Tom spent the afternoon tutoring Harry in ward breaking. Harry had studied it on his own during his private study sessions, but had never had any opportunity to try practical application. The wards at the base were extremely powerful, but somewhat crude. However, they were also exceptionally sensitive. Any attempt to so much as look at them would set them off, if one wasn't extremely careful. So it would be Tom's task to keep them silent while Harry broke them completely.

The appointed hour arrived, and the troops were assembled. As Harry went to put on his mask, Tom pulled him close. "For luck," he murmured, before pulling Harry into a long, passionate kiss.

"Mmph. With that kind of luck, there's no way we can lose," Harry replied. He gave Tom one last quick peck on the cheek before donning the mask. The two joined the assembled troops, checked in with the leaders one last time, and gave the order to depart.

Tom and Harry's work began the instant they arrived. Tom gently and delicately slipped into the ward system, focused on keeping it silent. Harry pulled out his wand and began the arduous task of breaking each individual ward.

Tom knew that he wouldn't have been able to accomplish this alone, and he didn't think there was any other pair of wizards who could have done it. His task required an enormous amount of skill and an incredibly deft touch, while Harry's needed vast amounts of sheer power and will. His magic easily worked in concert with Harry's, better than any other two wizards' magic he had ever seen. He could only imagine how it would be after the Ritual, when his magic and Harry's were literally the same.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack! For a moment, Tom thought someone had gotten through the anti-apparation wards put in place by his followers. But then he realized that he—and Harry—had done it. The wards were down.

Quickly, he cast a spell to cause each Death Eater's Mark to flare. That was the signal to attack. Almost immediately, they heard the sounds of battle. Spells were shouted, people screamed in pain and fear, leaders yelled out orders.

They would not enter this fray unless they were needed, which was unlikely. There were one hundred recruits and ten officers in the camp, and two hundred Death Eaters were attacking. Voldemort's forces had the advantage of surprise, and his troops were far more experienced. The auror recruits had been in training for six months, but most of them had never seen any actual combat.

After half an hour, the fighting was over. They entered the compound through the main gate, and found everything in order. Almost.

Bellatrix was still torturing one of the officers with the Cruciatus curse, cackling madly. "Whassa matter? Does the poor liddle Auror not like the way I play?" she cooed in her monstrous baby voice.

Rage flared up in Harry. "That's enough, Bellatrix. Just kill him," he ordered.

She flung her head over to glare at him, but did not release the curse. "I'll stop when my Lord orders me to," she spat out.

Harry had been hoping she would be the one to defy him. He'd known he would have to prove his worth to the Inner Circle, and she had just offered him a golden opportunity to do so.

He decided to start with the classics. "Crucio," he cast calmly, but surely. The jet of red light hit her directly in the chest. She was obviously in physical agony from the spell, but just as obviously mentally tortured by the fact that Lord Voldemort did nothing to defend her. Without relinquishing the torture spell, he sent a merciful jet of green light at the auror.

He allowed her to be tortured for a few more minutes before letting off, and then only because he knew Tom still had some affection for her and would not want her permanently harmed. "Stand up," he ordered.

She did so, slowly and grudgingly.

"Imperatus Gnyx," Harry intoned. The spell hit Bellatrix. She screamed, and fell right back to her knees.

"Stand up," Harry ordered again.

She attempted to obey, but every time she put her foot down, it slipped out from under her. Every time she tried to rise, she fell back over. Harry watched as her attempts became more and more desperate, and she grew more and more frustrated.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked, sounding almost concerned.

"I cannot stand," she hissed out.

"Crucio," Harry inflicted the torture curse again. After thirty seconds, he lifted it. "Now, what did you wish to say to me?"

By this point, her clothes were torn, she was covered in mud from rolling on the ground, and her muscles were twitching with the after effects of the torture curse. Tear tracks lined her face, and one of her lips was bleeding.

"I cannot stand, my Lord," she whispered.

"That is correct. I am your Lord. You are beneath me. You are so far beneath me that you are not allowed to stand in my presence. You will always kneel before me. If I walk away, you will crawl after me. If, someday, you learn your place, I may allow you to stand again."

"Yes, my Lord," she whispered again, but this time, there was no hint of disobedience. New respect also shone from the faces of the other Death Eaters, especially as Harry walked away, and Bellatrix was forced to crawl through the mud after him.

Tom, who had been standing to the side throughout the incident, fell into step beside Harry. They walked into the dining hall, where all of the captured auror trainees had been brought. Out of the one hundred trainees, only five had been killed or permanently incapacitated during the raid, which was excellent, all things considered. He would still find the people who were responsible for those five, and punish them severely, but inwardly, he was pleased.

Tom was about to begin his speech to the fallen, and had expected that Harry would stand by his side, but was surprised to find his partner was nowhere in sight. He knew through their link that Harry was still quite close by, probably in the same room, but where had Harry gone? He sent a questioning thought across their link, and immediately got back reassurance. Suddenly, a thumb pointed upwards appeared in the middle of the empty space he had been staring into. It disappeared almost instantly, but it was enough. Harry was in the back of the room, behind all of the prisoners, and under a powerful Disillusionment Charm. He relaxed and began.

"Soldiers of the Ministry, you have been defeated. Your leaders have been slain, your wands have been taken, you are bound, and you are entirely at my mercy." As he was speaking, he saw a bright orange light emerge from the place where he knew Harry was standing. The light gently touched each of the prisoners, though he knew that they neither saw nor felt it. Fairly certain he knew what Harry was up to, he continued his speech, particularly emphasizing the hopelessness of the prisoners' situation. He recalled how easily their leaders had been killed and how quickly they had been defeated. He spoke of the Ministry, confused and in chaos. He reminded them of the Minister, who had been too caught up in his own pride to listen to Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore, and failed to prepare the wizarding world for battle. He also recalled how Albus Dumbledore was an old man, and growing older each day. His power was waning, so much that he had even been forcibly expelled from Hogwarts just the previous year! And Potter—he sent a brief feeling of apology to his partner—Potter was a mere schoolboy, completely unprepared to face off against a Dark Lord.

The speech had its intended effect, and then some. Most of the prisoners were crying. Those that were not had an expression of complete and utter apathy, as though even crying was too much wasted effort. One shouted, "Please, just kill us now!"

That gave him the perfect opening to switch gears. "No, my friend," he said gently, knowing Harry would pick up the shift. "I do not wish to do such a thing. You see, I do not wish to destroy the wizarding world. I wish to preserve it. And I can be kind and merciful to those who will help me in this task." This time, the light that touched each prisoner was bright blue. He wondered about that. He'd been expecting Harry to simply lift his previous spell, not cast a new one. But as he continued speaking, it was obvious that Harry's spell was having an effect. The tears all stopped, as did the blank, apathetic looks. A few faces even broke into smiles. As he watched this in amazement, he finished his speech. Then he paused for a moment. "Who will join me?" he yelled, lifting his wand dramatically.

"I will!" cried a female near the front. "So will I!" yelled another. Soon, there was a clamour of people wanting to enter Lord Voldemort's service.

In the end, only ten of the ninety-five remaining auror recruits chose not to join. They were taken outside and killed quickly and quietly. The other eighty-five went home with various other Death Eaters, to prepare for their initiation in a week or two.

Harry and Tom returned to Slytherin manor, where Tom threw off Harry's mask and pulled him into a celebratory kiss.

"You, my little serpent, were brilliant today," he complimented, enjoying the resulting red stain on Harry's cheeks.

"I'm just glad it went so well. And I'm amazed we didn't lose anyone," Harry tried to shift the subject.

Tom was not having it. "I'm terribly impressed with the way you handled Bellatrix. I don't believe you shall have any further trouble with any of the Inner Circle, except perhaps when they learn your true identity. And I noticed your use of the Sansperare spell, with impressive effect. But what was that last spell you used?"

Harry smiled wryly. "One of the positive sides of growing up with the Light side, I guess. That was Plusperare, the hope-giving spell. I learned it in third year, along with the Patronus."

Tom looked deep into Harry's eyes. "I could not have accomplished this without you, Harry." Harry knew that admitting such a thing was not something that Tom did easily, and so he tried to put all of his gratitude into the deep, passionate kiss they shared.

They retreated to the study for a snack, as neither had eaten a very large lunch, and they had skipped dinner all together. "I don't want to go back to Hogwarts," Harry moaned plaintively.

"Now, now, Harry, magical education is important to a young wizard. Your studies should be your first priority," Tom replied mockingly.

"Well, since I've already learned all of the sixth year material, and most of the seventh, what should I really be studying?"

"Have you finished eating?" Tom asked.

Harry blinked. "Er, yes."

"Excellent." Tom clapped his hands, and Tibby appeared to clear away the dishes. "Let's go to the library. I will select some additional material to keep your attention where it should be."

Harry hadn't taken much notice of the library before, but entering it now, he found that it looked almost exactly like the one in the Chamber of Secrets. The rooms were roughly the same size, had the same furnishings, and the number and layout of the bookshelves was the same. Harry glanced at the Parselmagic shelf, wondering if the books were also the same, and noticed something odd. The books seemed to be in exactly the same position that they were in the Chamber library, right down to which way they were leaning. And the one that he was currently reading was missing from its place. Suddenly, Harry made a connection.

"They're actually the same library, aren't they?" he asked Tom.

"Very good, Harry. Yes, Slytherin wanted his books available to his descendents at Hogwarts, but he didn't want to be without them at home. Most of these books have spells to prevent the making of copies, whether by magical or muggle means, so he was unable to simply create two copies of each book. So, using extremely complex magic, he linked the two places. Library books are accessible from either location."

"And that's how you knew when I took books out of the Chamber library."

"Precisely."

"Mystery solved." Harry laughed.

Tom pointed to two books on the third bookshelf from the left. "When you return to Hogwarts, I suggest you study those. They have excellent information on ritual and runic magic, and will help you prepare for the Consort ritual."

An accidental yawn burst out of Harry's mouth.

"I suppose you wish to return to your room," Tom commented.

"It has been a long day," Harry agreed reluctantly. "And I'm meeting Hermione for breakfast at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, just before we take the train back to Hogwarts, so I can't really come back in the morning."

"I see," Tom said quietly.

"I could—I mean, could I...er...spend the night with you?"

Tom would never, not even under extreme torture, admit how pleased he was at that moment. "It will have to be in your room," he answered, sounding nonchalant.

"Why is that?"

"You will recall Salazar Slytherin's legendary paranoia. The wards on the house prevent overnight guests. The only people who may stay in the house are the Lord of Slytherin and his magically bound spouse. Any others will find themselves ejected from the house the instant the Lord falls asleep."

"He figured at least if your spouse kills you, they can't get away with it?"

Just when Harry seemed overly impressive, he would say something like this, and Tom would be reminded of just how ignorant Harry could be of the magical world. He sighed, "Magically bound spouses are unable to kill each other, Harry."

"Oh," Harry commented, not really knowing what else to say. "Well, shall we go then?"

Harry and Tom portkeyed back to the hotel. Though they were both quite tired, they knew it was their last night together until the summer holidays, and so they remained awake long into the night, talking, kissing, and gently exploring one another's bodies. When they finally fell asleep, they were curled up together, Harry spooned against Tom's chest.

Harry's alarm woke them up at seven the next morning. As Harry was taking muggle transportation to the restaurant, he needed to leave almost immediately.

"Goodbye for now, my little serpent," Tom murmured into Harry's ear.

"Goodbye, Tom" Harry whispered. "I'll speak to you this evening."

With one last kiss, the two separated, and Harry began the trip back to Hermione, Hogwarts, and life as the Gryffindor Golden Boy.