Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: For the sake of the plot, Severus in this fic is spying for the light side and is 'Dumbledore's man through and through'.

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Friend or Foe

Chapter 15: Warnings

Harry watched Lucius Malfoy's startled expressions when Nagini advanced on him in amusement. The huge snake hissed threateningly, forcing Malfoy to take a step back. He reached into his robe pocket, which Harry assumed was for his wand, then hesitated.

Nagini was, after all, the Dark Lord's pet snake.

Harry met Draco's eyes briefly. Though Harry could not see it, he was sure that the younger Malfoy's eyebrows had risen up high behind the white mask by the curious look he was giving him.

Lucius Malfoy backed down. He glanced at Nagini, then gave Harry a cold look.

"Come on, Draco," he said, before he turned on his heel and strode towards the exit of the graveyard.

Harry let out a sigh when the father and son left. At least Voldemort's right-hand man would leave him alone for the time being. Though, he knew, Lucius Malfoy would stop at nothing to prove that Harry was not loyal to Voldemort, especially after this little episode. From the look of things, the elder Malfoy obviously considered Harry as a threat to his position in the Dark Lord's rank.

Harry pushed away his thoughts and turned back to the huge snake that had just scared Malfoy off.

/Master Alex./ Nagini lowered its head slightly in a bowing gesture.

Harry smiled sadly at the name. He had not been called that for… was that only a few months? So much had happened since he had returned from the past.

He was surprised at how glad he actually was that Nagini had recognized him. After Tom's numerous rejections, Harry found any reminder of his life as Alex oddly comforting.

/Nagini…/ Harry kneeled down, so he was at Nagini's eyelevel.

The huge snake edged closer to Harry, obviously delighted to see her old master.

Seeing Nagini so closely again brought back Harry's memories of the past. The time when Harry first set eyes on her, caged and mistreated. The time Harry decided to leave her with Tom in the past. The time when Voldemort was resurrected, Nagini waiting beside the steaming pot in excitement.

Nagini did love Tom, it seemed. She had stayed close with him for the past fifty years, protecting him. Harry wondered how she felt when she watched as Tom transformed into Lord Voldemort. But then, the sense of right and wrong meant little for the snake. For her, her master's order was the most important.

/Haven't I told you not to call me master, Nagini/ said Harry, smiling fondly. /Besides, I'm no longer your master./

He immediately realized his mistake when Nagini looked offended and, if possible, slightly hurt, by that statement.

/Why? Is it because of master/ asked the snake. /I've tried to tell master you wouldn't want him to do all those things, but master would only listen to the man called Grindelwald. Have I failed you, Master Alex/

/No, Nagini/ said Harry hastily. /You have not failed me. You've done a good job. It's just-/

He stopped abruptly when he heard faint footsteps approaching him from behind. He turned around to find an unmasked Death Eater standing not far away from him. His anger burned at the sight of the man.

"Wormtail."

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Peter had been desperate to find the Dark Lord's snake. His master would definitely punish him had he failed to locate his missing snake.

The huge snake was by his master's side almost constantly, so Peter had not expected to find the snake in the presence of another Death Eater.

Of course, the presence of this person in a Death Eater outfit was highly unexpected itself.

Peter didn't quite know what to make of Harry Potter joining the Dark Lord. Though James and Lily knew they were no match to the powerful Dark Lord, they both had fought against him until the very end.

Peter did not have that strength. He was never as strong as his friends. He had no choice, the Dark Lord would have tortured him to death had he defied him.

But time and again, when they went on raids or during some particularly cruel torture sessions, Peter would doubt his choice in serving the Dark Lord. Being a Death Eater could sometimes be worse than death. But it was all too late now.

One thing was for sure, he definitely did not want James' and Lily's son to go through that. He had a feeling that the boy did not know half of what it meant to be a Death Eater. But that, too, was already too late.

"Harry…" he started, winced at the anger in the pair of enraged green eyes that was so similar to Lily's.

"I should have let them kill you that night," the boy hissed dangerously.

Peter took a step back in fear. "No, Harry," he said desperately. "Please, you have to understand. I have no choice, I just-"

"All you care about is your life. What about my parents? And Sirius? You betra-"

Harry stopped, a pain look passed through his eyes. His tightened his grip on his wand briefly, before lowering it, letting his hand fall back to his side.

"And I'm no better than you. A traitor," he whispered, his voice so hollow that it caused Peter to frown.

Peter swallowed, then asked, hesitantly, "Why… did you join?"

Harry remained silent for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes. "That is none of your concern," he said coldly.

Peter sighed. "James… James would not want you to do this," he whispered.

Harry flinched visibly.

"You have no right to speak about my parents, Wormtail," he said, though his voice didn't sound as angry as it should have been.

Ignoring Peter, Harry bent down and hissed at Nagini. Peter stared in shock when the snake hissed back.

Harry Potter was a parselmouth? Where did that came from? Both James and Lily had nothing to do with Salazar Slytherin, as far as he knew. And why did the boy seem to be so familiar with the Dark Lord's snake in the first place?

Harry stood up after several exchange. With a last glance at Peter, he turned and walked towards the edge of the anti-apparition ward without saying anything else.

Peter snapped out from his shock and called out before he could stop himself. "Harry!"

Harry stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around.

"A raid is… cruel," said Peter, shivered at his own experience. "Be prepared for it."

The boy stood still for a while, then he nodded slightly and went on to leave the graveyard.

Peter let out a small sigh, then turned back to the huge snake circling on the ground. He had better hurry to bring the snake back before the Dark Lord returned from his... visit.

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"So Voldemort finally decided to reveal himself to the public," said Albus after hearing Severus' report.

Severus nodded grimly. "He did not give out any details regarding the raid, but it is definitely going to be a large-scale one."

Albus furrowed his brows. He was deeply troubled by the news. Voldemort had been careful in hiding the fact that he had returned for the last few months, gathering followers in the dark and recovering his power after his resurrection. Albus had hoped to alert the Ministry to the fact before Voldemort made any aggressive move, but it seemed he was already too late. He had not expected Voldemort to reveal himself so early, since, from the information Severus and young Draco Malfoy had brought back, there had been no sign at all to indicate the Dark Lord's sudden change of plan. Had it all been planned? Or had something triggered Voldemort into making his move so quickly? What made him think that it was time to reveal himself?

"Did Voldemort mention anything else?" asked Albus.

"No," said Severus, "but there is another new Death Eater. I can't find out his identity yet, but he seems young."

Albus sighed wearily. Another young one.

"For some reason, the Dark Lord didn't seem to be so pleased with his presence," Severus continued. "He didn't even allow him to touch his robe."

"Is that it? Interesting," said Albus thoughtfully. "Find out more about this new Death Eater if you can, Severus, but be careful."

Severus nodded and dismissed himself.

Albus watched as his trusted friend left, feeling concerned. Voldemort had already shown signs of suspicion in Severus' loyalty. As much as Severus had insisted that he could gain Voldemort's trust again, Albus couldn't help worrying for his friend's safety.

Though many had doubted Severus, Albus' trust in him had never wavered. Albus had been close to Severus even when the potions master was still a student. Some might say it was not appropriate for a teacher to build up such a close friendship with a student, who was not even in his house, but Albus knew Severus would be forever lost to the dark had he not gone out of line to show him he was loved.

Ironically, it was Tom Riddle who had taught Albus to care for his students. Albus had never really trusted Tom, right from the beginning, and that was one of his greatest regrets. Things might have turned out differently otherwise. Now Tom had fallen too deep into the dark that it was impossible to turn him back. Albus doubted there was still any light left in Tom, seeing that he had never truly cared for someone else- expect one.

Not for the first time Albus wondered what had happened to young Alex Salutor, a mysterious boy who had lost his memory. He had only stayed in Hogwarts for a year, before he was transferred to another school. He and Tom had been inseparable at that time, and he was probably the only one Tom had ever cared for.

Albus had not heard of him ever since he had left Hogwarts, but knowing Voldemort, it was very likely that he had found and recruited his old friend during his first raise. And Albus doubted Tom would care for Alex enough to keep him alive had he refused to join his cause.

A soft singing pulled Albus out of his thoughts. He smiled as Fawkes flew across the room and perched himself on his shoulder. He felt himself began to relax from the earlier tension as he listened to the beautiful song of the phoenix.

Fawkes was deeply connected with Harry and Voldemort, since both their wands carried one of the phoenix's feathers. Albus always had the feeling that Fawkes was going to play a huge part in the upcoming war, and he also got the impression that the phoenix knew more about this war than anyone else.

"How will this war turn out?" he asked softly to himself.

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Silence. There was no sound at all, except for his own shallow breathing.

He was trembling. Was it out of cold, or fear? He liked to think it was the former. He was, after all, a Gryffindor, and he would die like one.

Yes, he was going to die. He knew it.

Images of his wife and children flashed before his eyes again. He shook his head weakly, desperate to clear his mind. Hadn't he told himself not to think of them?

He didn't want to think of how his family would react to his death. Ginny was too young for this. And Percy… would he come back home then? How about the other children? And Molly…

It would be hardest on her. And she was left to hold the family together…

Arthur struggled to focus on his surroundings, the dark cell, the half-filled water bucket… anything, anything but his family and his wife.

His heart jumped as he heard clear footsteps echoed in the dark dungeons, where he had been brought in several days ago.

Several days? Had it only been several days? It felt like years.

He pushed himself to a sitting position, leaning heavily on the cold stone wall. He braced himself for another round of torture; it had been like a routine for the past few days.

His visitor revealed himself before his cell and Arthur found himself sucking in a sharp horrified breath.

Nothing he had heard from Harry and the order could prepare him for facing the resurrected Dark Lord for real.

A monster.

He was shaking violently now. True, he had been a member of the order during You-Know-Who's first raise, but he had seldom been involved in actual battling and while he had seen the Dark Lord before, it had never been even close enough to fire a curse.

"Arthur Weasley," Voldemort said with a hissing voice that sent a cold shiver through Arthur.

Arthur tried to force his fear to stay at bay, with no avail.

"Ah, afraid, are you?" Voldemort continued in a quiet, yet terrifying tone. "Then perhaps you can answer a few questions for me. I might make your death a little easier…"

Arthur gritted his teeth. He might have to die, but he was not going to let this monster get any information from him and use it against his family and friends.

With that thought in mind, his courage slowly returned.

"You won't get anything from me," Arthur said, as calmly and confident as he could manage.

Voldemort gave him a dark smirk. "Is that so? Then maybe I should ask your wife instead? And your children?"

Something in Arthur snapped at the mention of his family, his fear momentarily forgotten. He lurched himself towards the bars of the cell.

"Leave them out of it!" he snarled.

Voldemort laughed sadistically, obviously enjoying Arthur's reaction.

"How noble, Arthur Weasley, so you fear for them more than yourself?" he said, with a hint of contempt in his voice. "Such a fear is your weakness."

Arthur clenched his fists, his anger rising.

"A weakness? They are my life and are anything but weakness!" He looked straight at the Dark Lord and continued quietly, "I may not be powerful, but at least I have someone to care for, and someone who loves me in return… unlike you. And you don't deserve having any love, you heartless monster."

A flicker of emotions flashed across Voldemort's red eyes, then he sneered and raised his wand.

The next second, Arthur fell onto the ground, screaming in pain.

After what felt like ages, the curse was lifted off and Arthur found himself panting shakily on the cold stone floor, with Voldemort staring down at him from outside the cell.

"Enough talk." said the Dark Lord, sounding as cold as ever. "I will search for it myself seeing as you seem to have trouble answering my questions." He pointed his wand at Arthur again, who was too weak to even move. "Now, tell me who the spy is. Legilimens."

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A/N: I'm sooooo sorry for the delay, this chapter took me ages to complete. Blame Square Enix for releasing Kingdom Hearts 2 during Christmas…

Yes, I know Harry's meeting with Nagini is short, but don't worry, they'll meet each other again in the future.

Many of you asked me about the horcruxes. Again, for the sake of the plot, I will not take that part of canon into account (though it will certainly be fun…). Nagini is Nagini, not one of Voldemort's horcruxes.

Also, Enelen asked me why Tom didn't seem to be able to remember his friendship with 'Alex', and I think I would better answer that here to clear up some points. Tom is still Tom, in terms of memory, at least. Grindelwald's influence, Tom's own hatred, adding with the excessive use of Dark Magic, pushed Tom to a stage that hatred, revenge, etc. are the only things left in him, or so he and many others thought. He did not forget 'Alex', he's just suppressing the 'foreign' emotions provoked by his friend. He didn't want to admit, or even realize, that somehow he still consider 'Alex' as his friend. Besides, according to himself, love is nothing but weakness, so he won't allow himself to treat 'Alex' any differently. I hope this help, it's hard to explain Tom's feeling.

Anyway, the next chapter will be, obviously, about that little raid of Tom. Things are not going to be pleasant for Harry…

Again, thanks for Irihi Safaia and all the reviewers! And, of course, please review!