Disclaimer: I do not own.

//This is Parseltongue.//

Paraselenic

Aberration // a temporary departure from a person's normal mental state

"Harry… are you okay? You aren't eating so much as you're pushing your food around and around."

Harry looked up from the race he was currently conducting between his peas and a piece of meat from his pie, eyes meeting with Ginny Weasley's. Her comment called Ron and Hermione's attention as well, and Harry gave a silent sigh. "I'm fine, guys. Just a bit out of it today."

"You are looking a bit peaky, Harry." Hermione moved forward over the table, laying the back of his hand to Harry's forehead.

Harry shook his head and pushed her hand away, smiling slightly. "I'm fine! You all worry too much."

"We're your friends, Harry. It's our job." Ginny looked away with a blush, her teeth sunk into her lip. Harry had nearly forgotten her attempt of the night before, but now he grimaced internally as she peeked at him through her lashes.

"Yeah mate," Ron said through a mouthful of food. "S'not like we can help it. You haven't got the best record for telling us what's wrong."

Harry speared a bit of meat and ate it to stave off his response.

"Honestly, Harry. We worry about you…"

Harry was saved from responding when Ron waved his fork in Hermione's direction. "Don't nag him, it won't help. Mate, we need to do something about Quidditch. We had to let Kirke back on and put him as Chaser. He's terrible, and I think we should move Ginny over with Demzela and have you back as Seeker. I'm sure Katie won't fuss about it, she thinks we need you back too."

"Ronald! This is not the time for worrying about Quidditch! Can you not be serious just this once?"

"Quidditch is just as important as anything you can come up with, Hermione."

Harry pushed his plate away and stood with a rueful grin. "Guys, we've got to get to Charms. Are you with me?"

Harry tugged his hood further over his face, keeping it in shadow as he skirted a group of Death Eaters in the halls of Riddle Manor. After Harry's last class on the day before Halloween , he had immediately begged off from Ron and Hermione with a muttered excuse about seeing Madame Pomfrey for a headache potion. Instead, he had put on his cloak, unshrunk his broom, and once again made his way out of the Anti-Apparition wards. Not only did he wish to finalize the Halloween plans with Voldemort, but he also needed someone to talk to without reserve; he could think of no one else he could speak to as freely as he could with Voldemort. Valerian perhaps, but that was out for obvious reasons.

Unfortunately, leaving in the middle of the day meant that he had been unwilling to risk using the Reversion potion in the open. He would wait until he had gotten into Voldemort's office. He cringed internally as he imagined the repercussions of a Death Eater glimpsing the face under his hood. It would be chaos.

He was surprised that the Dark Lord was not at his usual position at his desk. He had been building a belief that Voldemort had been grafted to that chair, only released when his various dastardly schemes required him to move about. But instead of sitting in his desk, Harry found Voldemort sitting on the wide sill of the window behind it, a cigarette between his fingers. Harry gave an incredulous lift of his eyebrow to the back of Voldemort's head and glanced several times between the Dark Lord and the cigarette before stepping forward.

"Filthy habit that, Tom. Never pictured you to have such a dirty addiction."

Crimson eyes shot over to him, apparently having been caught off guard. Harry was nearly worried now. Voldemort was never caught off guard, and Voldemort did not make a habit of smoking muggle cancer sticks out the window like a rebellious teen. Harry narrowed his eyes as Voldemort sighed. "Why are you here, Potter?"

"Tom? What in the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

"Eight of my men were lost in a raid last night. Three of them dead. Bellatrix, the elder Nott, McNair, and both Lestrange brothers all captured. They were the strongest of my Inner Circle, bar Lucius."

Harry cringed, knowing what a blow to them this was. Their forces were limited, after all, and would continue to be until the next generation had graduated Hogwarts. Harry seated himself opposite Voldemort on the wide sill, propping up his foot and laying his arm across it casually. "Well, Halloween is Tuesday, so we can't do much at the moment, but if you think they can wait a week or so, we can go after them then."

"They might be Kissed by then." Voldemort paused in his line of thought, seeming to truly look at him for the first time as Harry let his head fall back, exposing his face from the shadows of his hood. "Why in Salazar's name do you look like that?"

Harry blinked in confusion a few times before groaning and fishing his potion from his pocket. "It's early and I didn't want to risk getting seen or heard while Reverting. I have issues limiting the range of silencing wards and such spells in an open area, so I can't hide in the daytime."

"You need more training. And you don't have to bother with the potion if you don't feel the need to use it… though it is rather bizarre seeing you like that."

Harry grimaced. "I prefer to be in my real body as much as possible, thank you very much; I hate these months of feeling weak… and short… "

Voldemort snorted as Harry put the dropper to his tongue and let a single drop of the fluorescent orange potion fall onto it, capping the vial quickly to prevent it from spilling as the pain hit. He had taken to wearing clothing that would fit his altered form under his robes on days when he would be visiting Voldemort's base of operations, and therefore simply braced himself for the pain.

He refused to scream in front of Voldemort. Categorically refused. Despite the fact that they were no longer enemies, Harry would not show such weakness in front of the most powerful wizard alive. He gritted his teeth as his bones elongated, muscles and tendons following. He stifled a keening whimper that crawled from his throat without his consent, curling slightly in on himself as the pain began to subside, a heaving breath leaving his throat. The frequent transformations had begun taking their toll on his body, making the transformations more and more painful. He looked forward to Christmas when he would be able to spend two weeks in his natural state. It would help him to continue.

Breathing deeply, Harry opened eyes he hadn't been aware had clenched shut to find his vision full of black fabric. As his brain caught up with him, he had to force down a blush as he jerked away from Voldemort's chest where he had fallen in the midst of his transformation. "Eh, sorry Tom."

Voldemort rolled crimson eyes but nodded, settling back against the windowsill despite his cigarette being long finished. It was strangely comfortable to sit in the autumn sun, feeling the breeze. He was watching Harry from the corner of his eye as Harry pulled off his now tight Hogwarts robe and pushed himself back onto the wide ledge, fingers unconsciously playing with a segment of impossibly long black strands.

Harry didn't notice when Voldemort raised his brow at the nervous gesture, perturbed by the uncommon weaknesses that Harry was displaying. Usually Harry managed to make everyone forget his relatively young age, a mask of cheeky sarcasm and teasing wit concealing that the young man had never really had a normal stage of his life. He went from a childhood in which he was treated like a servant instead of a child, to an adolescence where he was treated as a weapon instead of a youth, finally ending up to a coming of age in which he spent all of his time being trained by immortals who had relatively no understanding of human emotion.

"Is… something the matter?" Voldemort asked with halted speech, being rather inept at emotions himself, though his predicament was mostly by choice.

Green eyes shot up to him and a grimace crossed Harry's features. "What makes you ask?"

"I think if nothing were wrong you would not be braiding tiny sections of your hair. Unless, of course, you've suddenly decided to add that to your style. Add some little barrettes I'm sure all the primary school girls will be flocking to our troops."

Harry immediately shoved his hands into his lap. "Hah bloody hah. You're hilarious, Tom, honestly. Have you considered being a stand-up?"

"Ah yes, it was my second career choice you know. I always knew if I didn't make it in ruling the world, I could fall back on my fabulous comedic talent."

"I see, and here I thought you would survive off your dashing good looks."

Voldemort laughed, not the high-pitched cackle he was known for, but a lower ranged chuckle that made crimson eyes dance. "You so enjoy poking fun at me, don't you Potter?"

Harry frowned. "How many times must I tell you to call me Harry, Tom?"

Noticing the change in mood, Voldemort cut off any other witty comebacks. "Quite a few more times, I suppose. It seems too personal to call you by your given name. Our history demands distance."

Harry shoved a hand through his long hair cutting his eyes to the window. "It has been ten years since we fought, for me. Ten years in which I gained perspective on the past and politics, and since I was given the ability to take control of my own life. I admit that I disliked the idea of allying myself with you, but I thought in the last months we had gained something of a friendship, Tom. Surely you can at least call me by my first name."

"It may have been ten years for you, but it has been less than six months for me. I spent over a decade plotting your demise, it's difficult to assimilate myself to working side by side with you instead. It is getting easier, but you have to give some margin for error, here. And I do not have friends, Potter, I have minions and allies. In the current state of things, a Dark Lord cannot afford something like friendship."

"That's bollocks, Tom, and you know it! Fine, I get that you are finding it hard to see me as anything but your next Avada Kedavra, but don't you dare tell me you cannot have a friend. Do you sit down with all your minions and allies and talk about your childhoods? No. You don't. I know this because almost no one even knows of your true heritage, let alone that you grew up in a muggle orphanage. Allies don't do that. Friends do."

Voldemort glowered, lipless mouth pursing tightly. "What do you want from me, Potter?"

"I… " Harry trailed off, brow furrowing. "I don't know, Tom. Just… stop treating me like one of your damned Death Eaters."

"If I was treating you as a Death Eater, you would be held under the Cruciatus every ten minutes for your cheek. I treat you nothing like that."

"Yet you still manage to refer to many of them by their first names."

Voldemort stopped and glanced away, knowing the younger man had him there. But he honestly couldn't bring himself to acknowledge this… friendship that had been building steadily in the months since Potter's tornado-like entrance into his manor. His life had been overturned with the presence of the young man, totally wrecking havoc on his long ignored emotions, his patience, and his libido. He didn't know how long he could continue to remain aloof from the man across from him, but he would be damned if he would give in so easily.

"Given time, I am sure I can do the same for you, Potter, but for now… this will have to do."

Harry sighed and nodded jerkily, obviously still annoyed but acquiescing for the moment. His lips thinned to a line as he once again turned his gaze out the window, staring up to the clouds with a pensive expression. The pair stayed in silence for long minutes, Harry enjoying the quiet. Even before his ten year hiatus from Hogwarts the constant presence of others had been overwhelming much of the time. He had, after all, spent his entire life before Hogwarts being ignored ninety percent of the time; even in the presence of his friends Harry had always found it difficult not to feel stifled. He supposed it was conditioning that made him so craving of the silence.

Voldemort finally broke the reprieve after many long minutes of watching the sky, tilting his head towards Harry and giving in to his curiosity. "You never answered. What has you so preoccupied today?"

Harry motioned with a hand for one of the cigarettes Voldemort had pulled out, deciding that if it worked to relax Voldemort of all people, then it had a chance of helping him a bit. "The reality of my choices are catching up with me, I think. Sceaduwe was like another world… well, it was another world, but I mean it was like this one didn't exist." Harry cursed his fumbling conversation skills. "My decisions are my own, and I would never feel right trying to mold myself to the Wizarding world's expectations, but I can't help but look at the people I am losing."

"Did something happen?"

Harry snorted and made a face at the cigarette, disliking the taste and sensation. "I received my reply letter from Remus the other day."

"Who is he?"

"The last of my father's friends, Remus Lupin. The werewolf." At Voldemort's nod he continued, "I sent him a letter at the end of summer, hinting towards my situation and allegiances. I had hoped that since I was the last link to my parents for him as he is for me, that he might follow me. I was wrong."

"I wasn't under the impression that you two were close."

"…We weren't, I suppose. He is a brilliant man; I learned a lot from him when he taught Defense in my third year. But I never knew the whole truth until he was leaving, and he did so much Order business that I hardly ever got to speak to him after. But from Sirius, I learned a lot about him, and the few times we managed to spend time together I found him a wonderful companion."

Voldemort tipped his head back to rest against the lacquered wood, eyes closed. "I don't understand family, so I can't be of much use to you on this. I have never had anything resembling affection or friendship, so I can't hope to understand why this upsets you enough to drop your guard. But from what I have witnessed in others, the least expected things tend to happen. You may act more like a Slytherin now than you used to, but you're still very much a Gryffindor, Potter. Let your famous stubbornness lead you."

Harry chuckled weakly, snuffing out the cigarette and deciding they really didn't work to relax him and tasted foul to boot. On the other hand, Voldemort himself seemed to do the job just fine with his emotionally-stunted ruminations, helping Harry to realize that he wasn't the only one with little understanding of pleasant emotions.

He felt rather silly for acting so out of character and unsure, but his heart lightened as he watched Voldemort turn away after imparting his advice, scowling at himself. Harry didn't understand this connection they had, the ease he felt in the presence of the older man, but he knew he wouldn't take advantage of it. He appreciated the bond they had forged too much to.

Harry smiled. "That was surprisingly comforting, Tom. You're getting better at this."

A snort. "Shows what you know."

Harry shook his head rapidly, attempting to clear it of his bleak thoughts. "Enough of this dreary nonsense, let's talk about the bloodshed on Halloween!"

"And that isn't dreary?"

"Not when you're me, it's not."

The Dark Lord chuckled. "Touché. Morbid brat."

"Look who's talking."

Voldemort only looking skyward in exasperation.

Harry smirked and shrugged before getting down to business. "So, how are we going to get you into Hogwarts tomorrow?"

"I'm not going to. I think you can handle it well enough, and it will serve as a true exposure of the new Dark Lord Mylläkkä if you manage Hogwarts on your own. At the same time, I will go to Azkaban and pull out those who were captured. It will be a two-sided attack and will leave the Ministry scrambling."

Harry smirked. "Well, I suppose I can handle it on my own. Makes things easier, hmm?"

Voldemort cackled and grinned, exposing his teeth. "The Wizarding world is in for a surprise if they think that a decade as a spirit made me any less lethal."

Harry grinned back.

Harry awoke on Halloween morning with a heavy weight on his chest, putting him immediately on guard. He had arrived back by the end of dinner the night before, thankfully, and had passed off his absence as a long walk around the lake. Hermione had been narrow-eyed at this, but everyone else seemed to take it at face value. He had gone to sleep in order to be well rested for the festivities of the evening, knowing this was an important night.

Harry called up his magic; though he couldn't control his magic wandlessly, he had an affinity for using it as a brute force. It was something of a one-time thing, but it was handy for knocking away opposition as a last option. He snapped open his eyes and prepared to blast whatever laid upon him away, when he got a glimpse of the source of the weight. He sighed and let his magic settle, glaring at the glowing yellow eyes that looked on from a few inches away.

A quick silencing spell later and Harry was attempting to sit up under the weight, glaring all the while. //What in the hell are you doing here, Nagini? Not that I'm not always pleased to see you, but as I just saw Tom last night, he can't possibly miss me already.//

The snake flicked her tongue at him in a huffy manner. //Master wished me to be your accomplice tonight, brat.//

//How were you able to enter the grounds?//

//I am a creature, why wouldn't I be able to? The Ill-will wards do not effect non-humanoid beings. After all, our natural instincts have to do with harm, so they cannot keep us away that way, or else the centaurs and other beasties in the forest would not be there.//

Harry stared at her incredulously. //Then why did you never sneak in and kill me? It would have been easy.//

//Master is vainglorious, he would not allow any but himself to kill you.//

//Makes sense.// Harry could practically hear Voldemort complaining in Nagini's mind.

//In any case, Master has sent me to be of assistance to you.//

//I'm not sure how much good you can be, Nagini. I think I have it figured out.//

//I can provide watch for you, so you are not surprised as you carry out your plans.//

Harry had to admit that it would be helpful, as Dante would be teaching a class when he carried out his plan. //Alright then. You will have to wait for me here, because there is no way I will risk having you follow me through my classes.//

//I'm not a hatchling, brat, I could figure that out on my own. But leave warming charms. And a nice mouse or six. I'm hungry.//

Harry sighed and bowed as well as he could around the large coils that draped over his lap. //As you wish, madam.//

Care of Magical Creatures was his last class of the day, and halfway through learning the differences between Bicorns, Unicorns, Thestrals, and other equine creatures, Harry gave an excuse to Ron and Seamus about not feeling well. Their pitying looks confirmed that they would believe it because of the date, just as he planned. He had acted jumpy and morose the entire day, playing on the ill-fated day as the reason for his odd mood.

He walked quickly to his dorms, taking the flights of stairs quickly as he tried to keep himself from running. He had less than two hours to complete his plan; it had to be done before classes let out for the evening. Time was of the essence.

He arrived in the Gryffindor common room to find it empty, and he jogged up the stairs to his room. He unlocked his drapes and found Nagini sleeping ensconced in his bedding, and it took him a few precious minutes to convince the snake to get up. Stabbing at her head with his finger, he hissed profanities about lazy reptiles until she was insulted enough to awaken and curse at him. While the long black snake whinged about his cruelty in interrupting her beauty sleep, he ignored her pointedly and strapped a wickedly shaped dagger to each thigh.

Harry proceeded to Disillusion both himself and Nagini, draping the snake over his shoulders and applying his Invisibility cloak overtop of them as an added precaution. He would not be seen. Harry snatched the Marauder's Map from under his pillow and set out, using his abilities to his advantage as he dodged the few people with a free block or those who were skiving class.

He reached the tower in record time, as he had never been eager to go there before, and let the Disillusioned Nagini off at the base of the ladder. //Wait here. If anyone comes near, paralyze them. No unnecessary deaths.//

The snake gave an irritated hiss. //Fine.//

Harry pulled himself up the ladder to the room he had always dreaded entering in his younger years, a grin spreading across his lips as he saw his target alone, surrounded by the noxious incense that she seemed to think added some kind of 'ambiance'.

He pulled off his cloak and cancelled the Disillusionment spell over him, grinning ferally as the woman jumped in surprise. "Why hello Professor Trelawney… "

Revised: 3/18/09 (Lame chapter. I can't find a way to fix it without messing with later chapters. Will try again once the fic is complete.)