Truth be told Harry was a bit at a loss for what to say. I mean what do you tell probably the most evil creature in the world about probably the most unpleasant man in the world who just happens to be your father?
He knew what he would like to say.
'Hmm, well he always beats me at chess, he offered me a lolly for being a good little boy, he likes Star Wars, he loved it when I had a go at Lucius Malfoy, he is a surprisingly good cook but he's still a snarky git. Oh, and he encourages me to drink, smoke and have casual sex.'
Okay, so he said that out loud. He didn't mean to, really he didn't.
The man in front him however seemed to find this funny. He was actually smirking (if you could call it a smirk), and then burst into high pitched laughter. Harry wasn't quite sure whether this was a good thing or not.
Voldemort got himself under control very quickly and then turned to Snape. 'Excuse us a moment Severus, I would like to talk to your son alone.'
Snape bowed slightly in acceptance. Like he could do anything else, Harry thought. If Voldemort wanted something no one would ever dare disagree.
Voldemort turned back to Harry. Come. He hissed as he swept away towards a door at the far end of the chamber, his robes were even billowing a bit like Snape's did. Harry wandered if he had been taking lessons.
With one final, almost longing look at Snape Harry also turned and followed Voldemort.
As he walked through the door into the next chamber his eyes widened in astonishment at what he saw. He had to admit that this was more like what he had expected instead of some empty cave. This room was decorated in green, silver and blue. He didn't quite know what the blue was for but it was a nice colour. In fact the look and feel of the room was a bit like the Gryffindor common room, except for the colour. There was a cosy fireplace and comfortable looking couches and chairs.
Great. Harry thought. I am going to have a lovely little chat with the Dark Lord on a comfy little couch by the fire. How cosy!
And that is just what was happening as Voldemort waved towards the couch by the fire, inviting Harry to sit down.
Fuck.
Harry sat down. There didn't seem to be much of a choice. Fortunately Voldemort chose not to sit next to him and instead sat in the arm chair opposite- but still to close for comfort.
Voldemort leaned forward in what might have been a fatherly way if it were anyone else. His snake-like eyes were boring into him as if he was trying to read his mind, which of course he well could be. Harry had the a disturbing idea that Voldemort would start piling Harry with tea and biscuits and then offer him a lemon drop.
Of course he did none of these.
'Now I want us both to be as frank and truthful as we can be about this Harry. I know you don't feel comfortable around me and of course I'm not surprised. In truth I don't feel truly comfortable around you either.'
Harry's eyebrow rose in surprise. 'Why?' He rasped out. He was finding it increasingly hard to find his voice.
'Because I have spent all of my time since my resurrection, and before that actually, trying to kill you. It is slightly difficult now to understand that you are now bound to serve me. For both of us.'
Harry nodded. He didn't know what else to do or what to say. He was terrified that he would say something that would give him away.
'You don't feel the need to serve me yet, do you Harry?'
Harry remembered Snape saying that the bond is very weak at first so felt he could agree with that statement.
He nodded. 'I don't feel the need or the wish to. You killed my parents. However,' he felt he had to add something Voldemort would find positive. 'I do feel the urge to obey my father. In fact I find it almost impossible not to do as he says.'
'Yes, that is to be expected. The bond between father and son is the most important one and it is the one I will be using with you anyway.'
'What's that supposed to mean?' Harry said harshly. Forgetting who he was talking to for a moment.
'It means that if I wish you to do something for me I will be able to go to Severus and ask him to … encourage you to do so, at least for now. Soon I expect you to serve me directly but for now this is the best way to go about things.
Harry looked down at his hands, eyes blazing, but did not trust himself to speak yet.
'You think that's quite ruthless, don't you?' Voldemort asked.
Harry just nodded.
'It's not like I would ask you to do anything that would make our relationship any more frosty then it already is. I would not ask you to harm your friends, or anyone for that matter. Not only would there be no point in that I don't suppose even your father would be able to make you do it as it is so against your nature.'
Harry remembered Snape saying something like that to him right at the beginning. It seemed so long ago but was actually less then two weeks before. It seemed difficult now for Harry to actually remember what life was like for him before. It wasn't like it was carefree for him but it certainly seemed like it was now.
'In fact,' Voldemort continued. 'To put your mind at rest for now I will even tell you what I have been asking your father to do.'
At that Harry's head snapped up. 'Yeah, what?'
'All I have asked is that you become well acquainted with the other children. That is why he told you that you had to go out with them and why we both expect you to do so again even though I know you did not feel comfortable there. I want you to feel comfortable around them and the places they like to go.'
Harry didn't know what to say to that. He admitted to himself that he could be asking for a lot worse… but still. 'Why?' He felt the need to ask.
'Because they will teach you everything you need to know without even meaning to. You will learn how to act, what is expected of you and what we all do and why.'
Harry let out a sigh and leaned back against the couch. He wanted to scream out at him that he would never understand what they do, that he would never join him and that at his first opportunity he would kill him. He had to then concentrate on occluding his mind as he felt his rage take over and didn't want Voldemort sensing that.
Even so Voldemort seemed to sense something. 'I can tell how you're feeling. You don't want any of that, do you?' He didn't let Harry answer but he assumed it was meant as a rhetorical question anyway. 'I don't blame you. From what you've been told you probably think we rape and kill people for fun, don't you? I'm sure you think I get off on torture and pain.'
Harry wanted to say something then but knew that whatever would come out of his mouth would be a mistake.
'Well let me tell you,' Voldemort continued. 'If that is the case why did I use Avadra Kedavra on your parents? Why did I not instead use the bone breaking curse or incendio them from the inside or brutally rape your mother before killing her?'
Harry felt like he was about to throw up at any minute. Did Voldemort actually think he was reassuring him?
'I didn't do any of that because I am not that kind of person.'
To Harry, Voldemort wasn't any kind of person.
'This is war, Harry. And death is inevitable in war. Your parents and I were fighting on different sides that's all.'
Harry had to think about what to say to that. Voldemort kept quiet so Harry assumed that he was waiting for a response.
'But it is a war that you started.' Harry said, trying to sound merely diplomatic and not accusing. 'You don't like muggles and muggle-borns even though there is nothing wrong with them. You are waging a war on them for no reason. It is like Hitlar, starting a world war because he wanted power and take over the world. It doesn't make it right.'
'You think I want to take over the world?' Voldemort asked.
'You obviously like power… and immortality.'
'You obviously don't know me well at all. I did not wage war at all, just like that muggle Hitlar didn't either. It was actually your Muggle Prime Minister that declared war on him, not the other way round. It is the same with me.'
'But if he hadn't done, then Hitlar would have carried on trying to take over the world.'
'And probably would have succeeded.' Voldemort said. 'Whatever else you may say about him he was a clever man. But what you have just said only proves my point that war is sometimes needed, to sort out disagreements and the like.'
'Have you never heard of discussions?'
Voldemort laughed again. 'Discussions? When has anyone been able to discuss anything and come to an agreement. The way I see it if two people disagree over something, that is never going to change. What matters is who wins in the end.'
'But Hitlar persecuted the Jews for no reason. He did terrible things to them and in fact to any other minority group. How is that right?'
'First of all he personally did nothing of the sort. One man on his own can't get very far. They may be able to kill a few people before they get caught but to kill hundreds of thousands you need an army behind you.'
'Like your Death Eaters?'
'Yes, I suppose so, if not for the fact that most of them are a bunch of incompetents. Your father is one of the few exceptions to that, a very clever man. You could learn lots from him.'
Harry made a non-committal sound from the back of his throat but otherwise stayed quiet.
'But my war is slightly different.' Voldemort continued. 'It is much more diplomatic then his. I actually have solid reasons for disliking muggles and unlike him I don't want to kill them all, I will only do so if there is no other choice. I just want to ensure that our blood-lines keep going because at the moment it is being polluted by muggles so much that we are getting more and more squibs. Soon, if nothing is done the magic community will cease to exist and why should we allow this, we are more superior.'
Harry was about to comment but Voldemort held up his hand to stop him.
'I am not saying this Harry, because of my over-inflated ego or anything of the sort, only because it is true. You must see this yourself. We have magic and they don't. We have power that they could never imagine, we could do so much more with our lives then they ever could. And the worst part of it all is we have to keep this all secret from them because otherwise they will fear us and try to kill us like they have done previously. Why should we hide from them?'
Unfortunately Harry knew that Voldemort had a small point, just look at his own relatives. However there were so many flaws in what he had just said and Harry was about to pick them apart.
'First of all it is true that we can do so much more then they can but is that in a good or bad way? We can change the world for the better but we could also tear it apart of we wanted to. We have more power then them, which means that we could kill them much easier then they can kill us. Maybe they only fear us because there is something to fear. To me it is like a human muggle kicking a puppy about. That dog can't defend itself and that makes it all the more cruel to me. When you pick on someone smaller and weaker then yourself it is a cowardly thing to do and my first instinct would be to help protect them because I feel they need it.
'Secondly you are generalising anyway by saying thay all fear us and would kill us if they could. Out of all the muggles in the world I bet there are only a few of them who actually think that and it is not right to persecute all of them for the few idiots there are around. Most people would probably just be jealous as they would love to be magical- actually I think that might be my aunts problem. But most of them would probably be very excited and interested.
'And want us to cure this and fix that for them. They wouldn't leave us alone.' Voldemort interrupted. 'All I have been trying to do is explain my reasons for my beliefs, which although you may not agree with I am sure you can at least understand. Yes, not all muggles are like that but there are a lot more around that are then you think. I'd of thought you of all people would know that, having been brought up the way you have.'
Harry shrugged. 'I do not judge all muggles on my relatives. I have met a lot in my time and the only ones to have treated me badly because of who I am are my aunt and uncle but I will not punish everyone else because of their small-mindedness and ignorance. I am bigger than that.'
'Ah.' Voldemort said slyly. 'You will not be getting to me that way. I have met a lot of muggles like your aunt and uncle and I am not even surprised, it is to be expected. Have you seen the X Men?'
Harry had to pretend to cough to cover up what might have either been a laugh or a choke. 'The X Men? No I haven't but I've heard of it.'
'Well, and I am assuming you will not divulge to your father that I sometimes have a tendancy to watch muggle films.' Voldemort said.
It was said in a joking way but Harry could still sense the underlying threat in it. He shook his head.
'Good.' Voldemort continued. 'Well the X-Men is the prime example of what would happen if all the muggles knew about us. In this film there were people who wanted to kill the mutants because they were scared of them and they almost succeeded. It only needs a few people to mount an attack you know.'
'Yes I do. Harry replied. 'First hand. It works both ways. Weren't the mutants also trying to kill the non-mutants?'
'Yes and maybe they had the right idea. Kill them before they kill us. They wanted all the mutants to be registered and controlled. Can you imagine if you had some muggle controlling when you can and cannot use your magic?'
Harry actually couldn't imagine that but still involuntarily shivered at the thought.
'Because that is the type of thing that would happen if we were to let ourselves be known to them and try to live in harmony.' Voldemort continued.
'How?' Harry asked. 'How exactly would that happen if, as you say we are more powerful than them and can do things better than them?'
'That is the whole point.' Voldemort said, banging his fist on the table in front of them. 'It would only happen if we let them. If we decide to try and live with them in peace and harmony they will not have it. We need to empower them, let them know that we are in charge and then they can't rebel.
'What, do you mean have them as some sort of slaves? That is when they will want to rebel. They are still people and will not like being told what to do. If you want them to leave us alone then we need to leave them alone.'
'How naive you are, Harry.'
Harry shuddered. He didn't know why but he disliked Voldemort calling him by his first name. It was just wrong.
'They will try and control us just like they try to control everything around them. Because that's what they're like.'
'I think you may be mixing them up with yourselves there.' Harry said. 'But this was my third point. Who is to say who is the more powerful or better then the other? Muggles have come up with some amazing things. The technology they have invented is still leaving us in the dark ages and all because we are too high and mighty to admit that they may do some things better then us and want to use them, like electricity. There are some things that wands just can't do. On top of that there are some muggle-borns that are not only more intelligent then pure-bloods but who are more powerful too and better in magic. But that is something you would never admit to.'
'Ah, by that I assume you are talking about Hermione Granger.' Voldemort said. At that Harry shut up even though he had more to say. 'See I do admit it. Yes she is the cleverist girl in your year. Either that or it is just that she spends all her life in the library and has no social life.'
Harry's mouth was now opening and closing like a fish.
'Yes Draco tells me a lot about her. He is a very competative boy and hates it when she beats him. He doesn't have that problem any more. And of course your father has a lot to say about her but he only refers to her as the 'annoying little know-it-all' or when he's in a really bad mood as the 'fucking self-righteous twit.'
At that Harry completely lost it. He wasn't sure what he was going to do until he did it as there were so many conflicting emotions in his head. First of course was indignant rage against Snape for one of his friends, another was the absurdity of Voldemort swearing and the third was just the hilarity of the situation.
Unfortunately it was the latter that came out as Harry slid off the couch in fits of uncontrollable giggles.
--
Fortunately Voldemort did not seem to mind.
'I'm glad you find that funny. I think that you are starting to see that we are not monsters.' Voldemort was saying.
Not likely. Harry thought.
'We don't kill for fun, only when we have to.' He carried on.
'I'm sure Bellatrix wouldn't agree.' Harry said.
'Well unfortunately Bellatrix is a little insane.'
Harry had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing yet again. What made it worse was that this was not funny in the slightest. Bellatrix Lestrange tortured Neville's parents to insanity. In fact you couldn't really find a less funny subject if you tried. But still … the way Voldemort said it, as if it was an unfortunate side effect but nothing big, just struck Harry as amusing.
'And you don't mind that?' He asked.
'I will admit that sometimes she may go a bit too far but she gets results and sometimes you need people like that.'
'What? People who torture for fun? I thought you said that you don't do that.'
'You know I'm getting quite tired of this now Harry. In fact you are really starting to irritate me.'
But Harry couldn't stop himself now if he tried. Because Voldemort had really irritated him too. For the last half hour he had been speaking a load of bollocks. Voldemort didn't mind his followers inflicting all kinds of pain on people and he didn't mind inflicting all kind of pain on his followers. There was something very wrong with that.
Harry knew that Voldemort wasn't exactly sane himself. To torture your enemies was bad enough but to torture your own people, and for the slightest thing, was too much. Not that Harry cared about the Death Eaters, in fact he wondered why there were still so many of them considering the way they were treated. But of course he knew the answer to that: fear! Harry was sure that Hitler never made his men bow at his feet. But then maybe he did.
Harry did actually try to keep his mouth shut but unfortunately for the last week or so he seemed to have had no control over it at all.
'What are you going to do?' He said. 'Torture me?'