Harry Potter: Dark Lord, Loving Father

Chapter 9: Live By the Code

Another week had passed and it was Harry's first day back at teaching. It had been a horrible week, to say the least – he'd constantly been reliving his past life every night, despite the Dreamless Sleep potions that Draco gave him. There was nothing that he could do about how his mind was integrating this additional information into what he was. The outbursts of irrational anger and hatred had diminished greatly in that week, earning numerous sighs of relief from Draco and Albus, and a much more relaxed feel back to Harry's life.

While Harry had maintained a much more mellow perspective, the integration of Hadrian's personality into his own proved to be much easier than he'd originally thought the process would be. Apparently, Hadrian was much like Harry in a number of ways that the Slytherin Heir had thought least likely and nearly impossible. It wasn't too strange, though, when he thought about how his current life was essentially a reincarnation of Hadrian's. Due to the rarity of the soul's splitting, in his previous lives, the original memories and the current were never mixed and therefore were the reason why he could only remember their presence, no actual memories or experiences.

It was only because of the mere fact that Hadrian had not fully embarrassed what he was to do and become under the command of the Slytherin Code that his soul was reborn. He was cursed to play out this cycle until he did it the proper way, according to the text, one way or another. While it was true that Hadrian Slytherin had become a Dark Lord known for his invention of the Cruciatus curse and responsible for the deaths of many, including Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff, the man had immense guilt on leaving his mother, Rowena Ravenclaw. Hadrian knew that he'd see her again, but when he did, the spite and distaste present in his mother's eyes was enough to send him reeling.

Because of his duty to his late father, Hadrian dedicated himself to the Dark Arts and the studies of Necromancy and other now-forbidden and forgotten arts of magic. He did not actively seek anything as Grindelwald and Voldemort had, but was merely acting upon his pact with his father. This pact that Hadrian had made when he was seventeen was to extend to his own son and their sons – due to this, Hadrian felt compelled to write this Code down, eventually becoming what was known as the Slytherin Code.

Even though Harry was having some trouble grasping the entirety of the Code, he was more perplexed how a man as dark and corrupted as Hadrian Slytherin could have broken it in such a trivial manner to be cursed to being reborn again and again until he fully and whole-heartedly followed every clause of that Code. It seemed to Harry, after analyzing Hadrian's memories, that it was not what he did, but how he applied himself to what he did. For the Slytherin Heirs such as Voldemort and Hadrian's son, Christoff, there was not much internal conflict and followed the Code completely and knowingly. However, it was Hadrian –who was believed to be nearly as cruel and heartless as Salazar Slytherin, himself, and Voldemort -- that stumbled on something so trifle as regret for his mother.

Upon realizing this, Harry knew that he could succeed where he (in his previous life) had not: it was simple; he had never met his mother, except through the Resurrection Ring. This mere detail was likely going to allow his soul to finally rest, at last, once he followed through with the rest of the Code. This idea was ludicrous to Harry, who couldn't imagine how such a thing would play such a heavy role in deciding the fate of his soul.

"Harry?" Draco asked, sitting down by his friend in the Great Hall. "Are you feeling well?"

The ebony-haired wizard shook himself out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the Malfoy sitting adjacent to him, now, at the table. "I am feeling… at ease," he replied, voice deeper than normal, resting his chin on his hand, propping himself up to watch the students trickle in through the doors. "Surprisingly, of course – I thought it would take much longer to get over that bout of Dragon Pox."

"I can understand," Draco replied, a secretive grin unraveling on his face, his silvery eyes dancing in the candlelight. "How did your classes go today? Well, I hope."

"They certainly did have their challenges, but they were easily overcome," he explained, a lazy, more sadistic smirk presenting itself on his lips when addressing Draco. "I am glad that you have finally stopped jumping at every little thing I do, however, and for that, I am grateful. It has made my life that much more livable."

"Ah," Draco responded, turning his attention to the Gryffindors who were peering at them curiously. "I have a feeling that the rumours about the two of us have only intensified during your sickness, Harry."

"Splendid," the man grumbled, sitting straight in his chair again, watching the students, the Gryffindors especially, a little more closely. "It seems that Albus and Scorpius have also been subjected to this rumour – which is worse than the existence of the rumours circling about us. They are merely children, can no one else see this?"

"The world today doesn't discriminate children from the realm of adults very well, when it comes to these things," the blonde drawled, scowling at nothing in particular.

Harry straightened his robes as Neville Longbottom made his way to sit next to Harry, knowing the first thing that would be out of the man's mouth was going to be his condition. When the Herbology professor sat down and opened his mouth, Harry pulled a quick draw: "I'm doing just fine, Neville – thank you for your concern."

"Oh… well," he stumbled, a bit shocked at the sudden response from his old friend. "I was going to say that you almost look like a totally different person with your hair that way and the goatee."

Taken aback by the comment, it took Harry a minute to process and come up with an appropriate response to Neville. "Does it? I just wanted to go for something different, that's all," he told him, rather candidly, grinning a bit superficially.

"I suppose that it looks nice on you, Harry," he apprised, smiling back, turning to face the crowd of students.

Their relationship had been rather shaky after Harry had refused the Head of Gryffindor position for the third time and the finalization of the divorce. Not that Harry was interested in pursuing such a relationship with someone so dedicated to the Light's cause anymore. Before he'd begun to frequent Draco's company so often, Neville and he had become rather close – closer than he was to Ron, after so long.

Now, however, Harry preferred the sole company of Draco Malfoy, appearing to be rather strange to the wizarding community, beginning to spread rumours that had escalated into rather vicious ones the last few years. To say that the whole thing was downright bloody annoying and pointless speculation of the rest of the wizarding world was an understatement. Salazar had little to say about the situation, although he did confess to having similar things said about him and Godric before he left Hogwarts.

Dinner was a rather dull affair; Fudge announcing the coming up events and his usual rambles to the students, Percy watching in adoration the whole while. It never ceased to amuse Draco how the Weasely would be so enthralled with such a stupid and idiotic man as Fudge was. Scorpius waved to Harry from the Slytherin table, grinning widely when Albus nudged him in the ribs, then resumed his chatter with his friend. Daphne Greengrass attempted to ask Draco for a private party that she was hosting in a week from then, which was declined in a polite manner. Following the headmaster's dismissal, Harry and Draco quickly slipped out of the Great Hall, heading down to Draco's rooms.

"You know, if you don't start going out with a woman rather soon, the rumours will only be thought to be true," Harry reminded his friend, a smirk evident on his lips.

"So be it, then," the blonde retorted, snorting at the absurdity of it. "And you're not going out with any woman, either – instead, you follow me around like a lost puppy."

"I believe that you're the one following me, my dear fautor," Harry reminded, his eyes gleaming darkly, the pitch of his voice down an octave than normal, peering over his glasses lazily at Draco watching for a reaction.

"I beg to differ – we're going into the dungeons to my rooms, remember, Harry?" Draco replied sarcastically, giving the password to the proper portrait that lead to his rooms. "But I'm sure that you don't consider than following, though, since you know my password already."

"Correct," Harry agreed, nodding slightly, sitting himself down in one of the plush gray chairs around the fire pit. "Shall we continue our discussion with Salazar, then, now that we're alone?"

A while later, towards midnight, Salazar changed the topic, facing Harry, his Heir, crimson eyes looking directly into dark emeralds.

"You've become much better at controlling yourself rather quickly – I'm surprised, and yet, what else would I expect from you, Hadrian?" he announced, a mischievous look on his face.

"After all that you've taught me, I doubt there should be anything that you don't expect of me," Hadrian corrected, pulling the black tie out of his hair, setting it down on the nearby table. "Besides, is there anything I cannot do, now that I have become the Master of Death?" he hissed in Parsletongue, an odd light flickering in his dark eyes.

Salazar's eyebrows shot up, "You finally completed them, then?"

"Yes, it was what allowed me to regain my memories of my previous life, in fact – I thought I told you this a few nights prior?" Hadrian wondered, skeptical of Salazar's response. "No matter, I believe it is time for us to retire – I will tell you of anything non-life-altering tomorrow night, Father."

With that, the Founder nodded his head solemnly and the ghostly form evaporated, leaving a small amount of mist behind, which quickly dissipated. Harry stood a bit shakily, running a hand through his longer hair, righting himself then letting his gaze settle on Draco.

"Yes, Harry?"

"I don't think I have enough energy to mount the climb to my own rooms tonight, Draco," he admitted, sitting back down in the comfortable chair he'd made himself at home in just a few hours earlier. "You don't mind me staying here for the night, do you?"

"Not at all. Where do you plan on sleeping, though?" Draco asked, having a sneaking suspicion that the future Dark Lord was going to kick him out of his bed – as if he'd let that happen, the threat of Cruciatus or not.

"Oh, is it like that, then?" Harry questioned, eyebrows lifted, shocked that his second would truly stand up to him on such a trivial matter. "Well, I won't boot you – you'll just have to learn how to share, that's all," he said, examining his nails as if the issue was solved so simply.

Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing; Harry Potter just asked him, Draco Malfoy, to sleep with him, in the same bed. Granted, this wasn't something that would normally happen, nor was it anything like what the rest of the wizarding world believed it to be.

"Dear Draco! You should see yourself!" the younger man laughed, uncaring of the fierce blush that crept across the Malfoy's face. "You fancy me, then? Is that why you don't fuss about those horrible lies?" he queried, disbelieving.

"I don't fancy you, Potter," he spat, crossing his arms, the tinge of colour still present in his cheeks, making his face burn uncomfortably.

"If you say so," Harry allowed, managing to pull himself up out of the chair and getting ready for bed, sauntering into Draco's room and making himself at ease, falling asleep faster and deeper than he had in the recent week.

"Good night, Harry," Draco whispered, sliding under the covers, watching his Lord's face in the dim dungeon light, smiling. "You have no idea, do you?" he breathed, laughing to himself as he turned himself to face away from Harry.

Well, this was a kind of filler chapter, of sorts and it's rather short -- I'm sorry. It was written rather quickly, but I couldn't think of any other way to advance the story, other than to take a beark from the heavy stuff and explaining a bit of the dynamics associated with the different characters.

Thanks again to my reviewers, Boogum and KouenTaisa (although neither of them contributed to this chapter, shockingly!) and to ASP and ForeverSlave for inspirational music.

Don't forget to vote on the pairing on the poll on my profile or through a review. Input is always welcomed.