Whohoo! I'm on a roll! :D

I just couldn't resist anymore, I had to include our favourite Dark Lord in this chapter! He was quite mad at me for not giving him some attention... So here you are!

Also, just thought I'd address something here. Harry might seem very trusting of Lucius and Snape. However, he is simply listening to their side of the story, not necessarily trusting it to be the truth. After finding out Dumbledore lied to him, as well as his friends not responding to his letters, Harry is more reluctant to trust people on their words and will instead listen and then make up his own opinion based on the facts given to him. Hopefully this chapter will explain his actions a little bit better!

Without further ado, please read on!


It took Harry quite some time to calm down. Snape's reaction had left him angry and dissatisfied, as if the older man was hiding something that he refused to tell him. After all, they were talking about Harry's own future, of course he had a right to know whether that future might entail him dying because he was married to a wizard with a magical core that was way stronger than his own.

Stomping back towards his room and almost slamming the door behind him, but refraining to do so because he would wake the rest of the house, and threw himself on the bed. In his eyes, his anger was justified. He was only trying to learn more about his future and Snape had told him that, when courting and then marrying, a stronger wizard would kill, unintentionally, their spouse if that person had a weaker core than their own. And of course Voldemort would be stronger than him!

'I'm twelve, for Merlin's sake!' Harry thought to himself, with not a little degree of mortification at the prospect of his marriage. Though that day was still far off, Lucius had said that it was Voldemort's wish that they would only marry when Harry was of age, he still wanted to live longer than seventeen years.

His anger slowly turned into a quite sort of desperation and frustration as Harry turned over on his back to gaze at the ceiling. Now, was there anything he could do to prevent this seemingly inevitable future? Was there any way for him to become someone who could stand next to Voldemort without having to fear for his life and the wasting away of his magic? His eyes fell on the bookshelf and with a newfound steely determination, he hurried over and searched the spines for something, anything, that might be useful. With an exclamation of elation, he opened the shelf and pulled out a big heavy book. The covers were made out of wrinkled black leather and the title, Traditions and Tribulations of the Old Magical Community, was engraved in a spidery silver thread. A thick layer of dust covered it and Harry quickly used the sleeve of his cloak to brush off the worst of it before he sat down in the armchair and browsed through the index to find out which of the chapters would be most useful.

What he was looking for was an introduction that would give him better insight than what Snape had told him, as well as some more in depth knowledge of how to tackle a problem concerning the old traditions. Maybe he could even find something pertaining to his own situation? Without further hesitation, Harry impatiently flipped the pages till he reached the heading of the first chapter, Magical Meanderings, and started reading.


Voldemort was pacing, quickly turning on his heel when he reached the opposite wall and then he furiously headed back in the direction he had originally come from. Long, spidery fingers were crushing a letter in a tight fist, the Malfoy insignia barely shown waxed on to the ends of it.

'How dare those muggles treat a wizard like that?!' he silently fumed and the pacing grew even quicker and violent, as a burst of magic shattered a vase that stood on the mantelpiece. With a barely conscious gesture, he flicked his wand in that direction and the shards disappeared. Though he was absolutely furious, he still liked some sort of order and tidiness around him. To succumb to disorganization just wouldn't do, not when he had a future husband to court.

Lucius had written him with the interesting story Harry had involuntarily told them. How he had been forced to clean the house, weed the flowerbeds, make the food… Voldemort was… not shocked, he had been living with muggles long enough to know that this was considered if not normal, not outrageous treatment of a child. No, he was confused, confused as to why Harry had just let it happen without saying anything, without putting a stop to it. Granted, Voldemort had only met the boy twice in his life, the first time when the boy was barely one year old and then again last year, when he himself was barely even human and had been forced to live that despicable half-life on the back of Quirrell's head. Still, the Dark Lord had expected the boy to be a little more conscious of his place in the world, to know how powerful he was.

Because Harry was powerful, no doubt about it. He had felt it as a tingling in the air that day when he visited the Potters. Such a shame that they were too entrenched in Dumbledore's snares to listen to him.

With a snarl, Voldemort sat down in front of his desk and grabbed a quill and some paper. Something had to happen and quick. He no longer had time to wait until Harry was as educated in the Old Traditions as any pureblood heir, he wanted to meet the boy, to reveal to him how power was surging through his body and how, with training, he could mould that power to create the most amazing things. Red eyes flashed excitedly as he thought about it. He still remembered when he himself had realized his true potential and how his magic had filled his body so completely that he felt he might burst, before it quieted down to lay silent until such a time as when he needed it again.

He had been writing continuously and, with an impatient air, picked the parchment up and looked over the contents.

Lucius

Your news are indeed worrisome and I have decided to step in personally to change Potter's conception of himself, the Wizarding world and myself. There are obvious holes in his education and Dumbledore has filled his head with too many lies. Luckily, the boy is still young so the headmaster will not have had time to completely turn him against us and our cause.

I'm not going to just appear at Malfoy Manor, that would be too much of a shock to the boy. Instead, you will prepare him for the fact that I will be visiting. As you are widely known in the upper social circles of our society, I want you to arrange a ball in two weeks. I will be there, in disguise of course, and I expect Potter to be ready to meet me and have a conversation without it turning into a situation where I will have to rectify all his misconceived notions. Make sure to weed those from his mind, I don't have the patience to deal with whatever little notions Dumbledore has put into his head.

I trust you to take the necessary precautions and to arrange an event that will suit my needs for discretion, as well as to make sure Harry is ready to meet me when I arrive.

Voldemort

Satisfied with the letter and confident that Lucius would be able to follow this command, Voldemort opened the window and a black hawk owl flew in to perch on the sill. Without a word, he tied the letter to the bird's leg, gave it a piece of an owl treat and watched it fly away.

Having calmed down considerably while writing the letter, the Dark Lord went over to the fireplace and sat down in one of the chairs facing it. Two weeks. That was the time he had given Lucius to finish all preparations, both with the ball and with making Harry comfortable with the fact that Voldemort, the one who killed his parents, would come specifically to see him. Though he was hardly a soft or kind-hearted person, Voldemort did regret killing Lily and James Potter. It didn't suit his plan at all and it also hurt his future husband, meaning that obtaining said husband would be harder.

'Not that he would ever even consider rejecting the Dark Lord himself.' Voldemort sneered self-assuredly, but he quickly fell back into the previous ponderous mood. What would he talk to the boy about? Despite himself he felt worried that the boy wouldn't like his company, that he would be unable to see anything more than the vicious persona he had created for himself. Voldemort sighed. He couldn't hide it from himself, he had a soft spot for Harry Potter and had had it since first becoming aware of the power latent in the boy. Though killing felt natural to him and the pleasure he found in torturing his victims was one of his most favourite, there was no denying that he wanted to be liked by Harry.

In the beginning, the Potter boy had been nothing more than an object that he wanted, something to possess. But over time this changed, now he had come to respect the power within that lithe body, the brilliant green eyes and the raven hair kept appearing before his eyes, leaving him with an almost desperate longing.

'For Merlin's sake, the boy is barely twelve!' he angrily chastised himself, but to no avail. Though he wouldn't want to marry the boy now, he wanted to get to know him, to gain Harry's respect and become someone who was closer to the boy than anyone else. After all, the longer the courting period, the more successful the marriage would be.

With a sudden cunning glint in his eyes, Voldemort rose from the chair. He would have to plan his meeting with Harry very carefully. 'First impressions are of utmost importance, even for Dark Lords' he thought to himself as he quickly excited the room and headed down the hallway.


With a groan, Lucius placed his head in his hands. Just for a moment, as it was most undignified for a Malfoy to do such things, but nevertheless. An owl had just arrived from his Lord and now he was expected to carry out his previous mission within two weeks in addition to arrange a ball. Though he had every level of respect for the Dark Lord, did the man even have a concept of how long it usually took to arrange an even half decent festivity? From the sound of his letter, it seemed like Voldemort expected something grand, a ball with enough guests so that he would be able to blend in with the crowd and also meet Harry without attracting too much attention. Not that this would be very easy, the Potter boy would be the main attraction after all. Everyone would want to see him, talk to him, ask him how he liked living with the Malfoys and on and on. Lucius had been in this game for long enough now to know the rules of it.

With just one more exasperated sigh, Lucius pulled out quill and parchment. First, he needed to write Narcissa and ask her to cut her holiday in Spain short. His wife was most adept at knowing who to invite and how to decorate the place so that the ball would be remembered by everyone who went as the ball of the season. Secondly, he would have to write to Gringotts and make the goblins purchase the required food and drinks. As he had supplied the bank with enough money over the years, the goblins were little more inclined to do him some small favours. Hopefully, they wouldn't be too obstinate and would only require a small bribe. Though he could perfectly well employ a cook for the night, the goblins had a way of finding the best caterers in the magical world and Lucius would do his utmost to provide only the best for the ball where his Lord would appear.

Finishing the letter, the blond quickly tied it around the leg of a waiting Eagle Owl, not waiting to see it disappear into the distance, but rather stalking, in a highly dignified manner of course, out the door and towards Harry's bedroom. The sooner he broke the news of the Dark Lord's plans, the better. Lucius only had a limited amount of time to make sure everything went smoothly in two weeks and he was not one to waste any of the precious time he had left.

Harry was absorbed in the Traditions and Tribulations of the Old Magical Community, the book proving to be incredibly informative. In addition to in depth and barely known information, it also included basic historical information, explaining just how witches and wizards in times gone past arrived at the various solutions when it came to the traditions of magical society. Skipping many chapters that seemed interesting, but not particularly related to the topic he was looking for, Harry had finally found the section on magical unions and marriages.

Courting was absolutely necessary, the book stated, because it served to give the magical cores of the couple to fuse and become one. Harry remembered the words of Snape and reluctantly had to admit the man was right, if only on just that point. After realizing Dumbledore had been lying to him, Harry had decided to at least listen to the other side, to compare the two versions of the story and then reach his own conclusions. Just one day with the Malfoys wasn't enough to make him believe in them just right off the bat, he needed more evidence to support them being trustworthy enough to put his faith behind their words and to believe the things they told him. Sure, both Lucius and Draco had been perfectly civil, friendly even, but Harry couldn't help but feel that it might be just yet another strategic plot to elevate themselves even further in society. Even so, he had decided to listen to them without too much intervention before he could reach a conclusion of whether or not he could trust that the two Death Eaters, Snape and Lucius, were telling him the truth.

The sound of knocking on the door shook him out of his musings. "Come in!" he shouted, rather perplexed at the fact that someone was up at this hour. Casting a quick 'tempus', he saw this it was three in the morning, hardly a time where any self-respecting Malfoy was up.

The door opened and Lucius walked in and Harry nodded the slightly hurried air that surrounded the man. His usual perfect silver hair was slightly tousled in places and he was walking just a bit faster than his usual dignified pace. A slight frown was forming on his otherwise impassive face.

"Harry, I'm sorry to disturb you this late, but I have just received some news that simply couldn't wait."

The words intrigued Harry and he quickly closed the book, putting it back in the bookshelf for further reading at a later point.

"What's happened? Does it have anything to do with Voldemort?" From the look on Lucius' face, Harry knew he had hit the nail on the head and he could feel a tight knot forming in the pit of his stomach.

"It seems the news of your previous treatment when living with your relatives and the attitude you have in relation to it has greatly disturbed the Dark Lord. He wants your education to take precedent and will most likely be personally teaching you, from what I can understand from his letter. He has ordered me to arrange a ball in two weeks time, a ball which he himself will attend and where you two will be introduced. Before this point, you will have to be fully knowledgeable on everything to do with our society" Lucius said, before adding with a slightly doubtful tone to his voice "or at last as much as is possible in such a short amount of time."

Harry's mind went completely blank. He would be meeting the Dark Lord Voldemort, the one who killed his parents, intentionally or not, and who was also his future husband. Not to mention the most dark and powerful wizard of their time.

'This is no time to hesitate' Harry mentally berated himself. 'I need to make a stand and then stick to it. Going along with this plan of Voldemort's is going to speed up the process of learning, which will be useful. I will also be able to talk to the man himself in a place where there will be several people present, meaning I'll be relatively safe.' With a short nod to Lucius, Harry carefully voiced his opinion.

"I want to learn more about the old traditions and the old ways of magical society and if this plot of Voldemort's is going to present me with an opportunity to learn more, then I'm happy to go along with it." Deciding to also make his own personal standpoint clear, he added "however, I don't necessarily trust him, nor Snape and yourself. Dumbledore lied to me, the man I saw as a protector. I have no proof that your side won't do the same.

To his surprise, Lucius sent him a slight smile. "You'd be stupid to trust us immediately, Potter. If you will only follow one advice of mine, then follow this: never trust anyone implicitly. Everyone has their own agenda and that agenda might or might not be in your best interest."

"Right. I guess you've got a point." Harry acquiesced, though slightly happy that the man was honest with him. "So, when do this education begin?"

Lucius didn't reply, but turned around and walked over to the door, looking back at Harry with a slightly raised eyebrow, clearly expressing that he expected the boy to follow him.

"You can't be serious? It's three in the morning!" Harry protested, but followed the blond aristocrat anyway, his thirst for knowledge stronger than his desire for sleep.


Hahaha, I can just picture Harry looking longingly at his bed as he is running after Lucius. Hope you all liked the inclusion of Voldie! And now we all look forward to the next chapter! There will be a ball, there will be Dark Lords and finally, there will be Harry and Voldemort interacting! I am so looking forward to writing it! At this point, I feel like I'm just as excited for this as you guys, and I'm the one actually writing the story!

I might be a little late in updating though, as I've been obsessing over one of Drops_of_Nightshade's story over at Archive of Our Own. It's called 'The Courtesan' and it's LVHP and is just really addictive! I have yet to read all the chapters that are out, but so far I'm really loving it. You guys should all go check it out!