Disclaimer: It's been a while since I put one of these up, but I will just say that nothing has changed in terms of me owning anything to do with Harry Potter. *sad face* I'm still just a poor college student, I'm afraid! No profit is made from writing this story.
So, with this chapter we're finally starting to see the final climax to the story! I'm so excited!
Ginny was fuming, pacing back and forth in her bedchamber at Hogwarts. The news had travelled quickly and whispers of Ron's disappearance had scattered throughout the school like wildfire. The craziest allegations were proposed, everything from Ron having just feigned his anger towards Harry and that life at school simply wasn't bearable without his former best friend, to the more darker theories of how Ron had been killed by one of the creatures in the Forbidden Forest, as well as stories about how several students had seen Voldemort himself whisk the redhead away from one of the school's corridors.
Though Ginny didn't believe any of these fantastical stories, she knew that her brother hadn't simply decided to live his life elsewhere. No, something more sinister was at work here and she somehow knew, instinctively, that Harry Potter was at the heart of it. The last time Ron was seen had been after the Potions class shared with the Slytherins. Seamus and Dean had both told her how they had left Ron behind with Harry, though they were both rather indignant over how Ron had threatened not only Harry, but also Seamus. Ginny completely sympathized with her brother, but she was a better actress than people believed her to be, so she gained the full support of the two older Gryffindors.
'Somehow, it's all linked to Harry. I know it. He was the last one to see Ron before he disappeared and now Potter has crawled back to You-Know-Who like the obedient little dog he is.' She sneered and stopped to fully collect her thoughts. She needed a plan, a plan that would not only bring her Ron back, but which would also lure Potter out of his secure hiding place at Malfoy Manor.
A small smile formed on her lips. Quickly making her way out of the Gryffindor tower and through the winding corridors, she hurried towards the one person who would definitely help her.
It had been two days since Harry's decision to get to know Voldemort more fully, but thus far, he had not much new to report. From watching the man during his simple, everyday habits, Harry knew that he preferred a simple breakfast of coffee, orange juice and toast, that tardiness and disrespect was one thing which he would never suffer from any of his followers, and that he was meticulous about his work, always making sure to dedicate at least a few hours every day to fully immerse himself in the latest reports and movements made on both sides.
Harry was sitting in Voldemort's study, carefully watching the man as he was reading through a lengthy report on the werewolf packs in Northern England. Apparently, someone named Greyback had agreed to support Voldemort's cause, though his demands to be provided with humans to feast on was quickly turned down by Voldemort. He was now currently working with the werewolf to sort out a compromise they could both agree on, but it proved to be harder than originally thought, as the wolf was rather adamant that his claims be met or he would simply turn his back on any agreement they might decide on.
After watching Voldemort for a few more minutes, Harry took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and walked over to the man.
"I want to know more about you." He declared with the most decisive voice he could muster. "If I'm to marry you or even give you the answer I promised you, I want to know as much about you as possible."
Voldemort turned towards him and scrutinized him for what felt like an eternity. The expression in his red eyes was hard to figure out, but it seemed to Harry as if Voldemort was somehow pleased with his daring to state his demands like this, straightforward and to his face.
Rising slowly, Voldemort walked over to an armchair, sat down, put his hands, on over the other, on his knee, before looking expectantly at Harry.
"Very well. Ask whatever question you want and I will try my best to answer it." Though he added with a slight warning in his voice "though I will refuse to answer any question I deem to be unnecessary knowledge for anyone but myself."
Shaking himself out of his surprised state, Harry quickly took a seat opposite Voldemort. Thinking for a minute, trying to decide what to ask the man, he began his questioning.
"You've already told me what your ideal for the Wizarding world is and how you will go about accomplishing this ideal. But what will you do once you're done with that, when your goals and dreams have all come true? Will you just sit back and enjoy it? And is it your intention to become Minister of Magic? No offence, but I can't really picture you as Minister."
"And why not?" Voldemort asked, one of his eyebrows raised in question, but a small smile played on his lips.
Halting a little, Harry stuttered. "B-because, well, the position of Minister entails having to be answerable to the Wizengamot and the public at large. It's certainly a position of power, but from what I can gather, you're not really allowed to just do as you please. You're very much dependent on gaining the favour of the public to stay in office."
To his relief, Voldemort nodded with a pleased look on his face. "Very good, Harry. Yes, you're right. I have no ambition of ever becoming Minister of Magic, though I intend to place one of my followers in that position. That way, I can work from the shadows, but also control the Ministry. Though, if everything goes according to my plan, there won't be much 'controlling' to do. Hopefully, most of the Ministry workers and the Wizengamot will see the logic in my views and follow them willingly."
"Fair enough, I guess." Harry replied with a small grin. He was starting to enjoy this light back and forth between them. "Now on to the next question. Why me?"
Voldemort looked up, an almost startled look on his face that then morphed into a quizzical mask. "What do you mean, 'why you'?"
Blushing deeply, Harry refused to meet the man's stare and mumbled, almost unintelligibly. "I mean, why did you decide that you were to marry me? What made you, the most powerful wizard in our world, decide to visit my parents that night with a ready written marriage proposal? What made you wait and continue pursuing me eleven years later?"
To his surprise, Voldemort's normally hard, stoic features softened and his voice, when he replied after a little wait, was lower and more emotional than Harry had ever heard it before. "At first, it was simply a matter of logic. Your magic showed a lot of potential, even as a child, and as such it made sense to me that you would be a suitable consort to me when you grew up. However, after I regained my body and soul, I started listening to the reports made by Lucius and Severus, and my interest was piqued. Of course, Severus had only negative things to say about you. He would go on and on about how conceited, spoilt, arrogant and insufferable you were. Lucius was a little more neutral, though I fear his son might have influenced him slightly in his view of you."
Voldemort leant back and seemed to be lost in contemplation or nostalgia. "Slowly, my interest in you grew and I decided that I would have to take action before Dumbledore completely poisoned your mind against me. I'm completely convinced, Harry, that we are completely compatible, not only magically, but otherwise as well. If you'll let me, I'll show you that a life with me will be far from a life lived in fear or regret."
The honesty in his voice surprised Harry and he simply stared at the man for a solid minute. His emotions seemed to be all over the place, from a sudden affection to a proud sense of independence, a feeling that Voldemort had no place to tell him what to do. In the end, it seemed like a growing warmth of happiness won out and Harry smiled tentatively.
"I guess that makes senseā¦" he trailed off, before shaking himself out of the, in his mind, rather silly bubble of elation that seemed to have wrapped itself around his head.
"So, lets say all your ideals and goals are fulfilled and the Wizarding world becomes just like you picture it. What will you do after that? I know that you will want to keep a close eye on the Ministry, but surely that can't take up all your time?"
To his surprise, Voldemort rose and turned away from him, staring out of the large windows on the opposite side of the room. His hands were joined behind his back as if he was contemplating something. After a rather tense silence, he turned back and his red eyes fixed steadily on Harry's green ones. They were filled with steely determination.
"I don't want to scare you off, Harry. But believe me, I have no intention of letting you alone for most of the day while I'm conducting meetings or whatever other business I might have to do. As you know, I can be rather possessive and with a husband as handsome as you are bound to grow up to become, I couldn't possibly leave you alone for long at a time."
The teasing tone of his voice made Harry blush even more, and he rose from his chair to sort of level the standing between them. Though he was tempted to run away due to the embarrassment he felt, Harry still had one more question he was aching to ask. However, he knew that this one might be the one question that would make Voldemort throw him out of his office, refusing to even talk to him for the rest of the day.
"Was your childhood a part of the reason why you decided to keep pursuing me? Because you saw a similarity between us?" Harry had picked up enough about the Dark Lord's background during some of their conversations to know that the man had grown up in an orphanage. Though he knew no more than that little fact, Harry guessed that there were some rather emotionally charged reasons why young Tom Riddle had almost remained as the crazed murderer Harry had seen last year, and that those reasons were quite possibly tied to that muggle orphanage.
Voldemort had been looking absentmindedly at a book next to him on the small table next to the chair he was sitting in, but as Harry spoke, his, till then, relaxed and composed pose stiffened, and he slowly raised his eyes to meet with Harry's. The red in them was flashing dangerously and his lips were just a think line, as he was pressing them together tightly. Harry could see how the man had clenched his fists so that the knuckles stood out bone white, decidedly different from the usual pale, but not unhealthy, colour of Voldemort's skin.
"Harry, you are treading on dangerous ground here." He forced out, obviously trying hard to control his impulse to hex Harry with the most painful curse he could think of.
'Here goes nothing, I guess' Harry thought, gathering up all that he could muster of that famous Gryffindor courage.
"I didn't say that to hurt you or exploit anything you perceive to be a weakness. I asked because it's a normal human response to connect more to people who have shared experiences similar to your own." Encouraged by the fact that Voldemort hadn't immediately thrown him out and actually seemed to relax, however marginally, Harry continued. "We are both without family, we both grew up in a place where nobody really appreciated us or loved us. Don't you think that such a childhood leaves some sort of wound that is begging to be healed? Don't you think that to heal the wound, you need another person who can at least have a basic understanding of what you went through?"
As he was talking, Harry seemed to slowly reach a decision. While trying to convince Voldemort, he was also convincing himself. The words he spoke seemed to reverberate within himself as well, and open up a part of him that he had been too nervous and hesitant about approaching until that moment. Despite the fact that Voldemort could be cold, arrogant, overprotective and egotistical, Harry also knew that the man had the ability to be caring, kind and to be able to listen and contemplate what others were saying. Behind that thoughtful, cold stare was a mind that was capable of taking the opinions and feelings of others into consideration and act accordingly. Also, Voldemort was still not completely used to the fact that he had feelings. If he was able to act like this now, then Harry was certain that he would become a man that could truly love and care for another human being with time.
Before Voldemort had time to cut him off, Harry quickly walked over to him and held his face softly between his hands, tilting his head up slightly so that they looked straight into each other's eyes.
"Instead of remonstrating against your past, let me be there to help you come to terms with it. Just as I can be there for you, so can you be there for me. Let bygones be bygones and rather focus on what the future will bring, instead of being tied down and afraid of a past that keeps on haunting your thoughts."
Leaning forward slowly, giving Voldemort time to retreat if he wanted to, Harry softly kissed the man's cheek. "I will stay by your side if you promise to do the same for me." He whispered.
Then, suddenly conscious of the audacity of his actions, Harry blushed bright red and hastily turned away, heading quickly towards the door. However, Voldemort's voice stopped him.
"Wait, Harry." The tone of his voice was surprisingly soft. "I'm not angry with you, please don't leave just yet."
Turning around, Harry saw that Voldemort had risen from his chair and was holding out one hand imploringly, as if trying to stop Harry from exiting the room.
"If I understood that last sentence right, you have just given me an answer to my proposal earlier?" he asked, and Harry could sense the emotion threatening to burst into the casual tone he used.
Without a word, Harry turned back and wrapped his arms around the taller man's waist, leaning his head against his chest. "You understood correctly." He replied in the same by-the-way manner, making Voldemort smirk a little before placing his hands on the boy's shoulders and holding him a little away from him so as to better look at him.
"Trust me, Harry, that makes me very, very happy. I will try my best to become the best husband I can be for you."
Harry couldn't stop a brilliant smile from appearing on his face and his green eyes lit up with undiluted happiness. "And I will do my best to always be there for you whenever you need me."
After this, they settled back into their own armchair, each with their separate books, spending the rest of the afternoon in silence, only occasionally did one of them look up and smile softly at the other. A silent agreement had formed between them and now they both happily relaxed with the knowledge that neither of them would step down from the promise they had made each other.
Hermione was walking along an empty corridor when voices interrupted her silent pondering. Stopping for a moment to figure out who the voices belonged to, she stiffened as she recognized the very familiar voice of one Ginevra Weasley. Fearing the worst, Hermione slowly snuck along the wall until she reached the corner leading into the next hallway. Judging from the sound, Ginny and the person she was talking to were just a few meters ahead.
"Listen, I went to Dumbledore and he has this all figured out, okay? No need to be worried about it. It will simply be an in-and-out mission, just to lure Potter out so that he can be taken down easily."
The other person said something, but Hermione couldn't hear what they were saying, as they were seemingly mumbling. Ginny's response, however, was loud and clear.
"Geez, don't you see? We have no chance as long as You-Know-Who is close to him. What we want is to get Potter on his own, without his precious master. That way, he will be easy to defeat and Dumbledore will be one step closer to defeating You-Know-Who himself!
Her associate expressed a shocked exclamation, and Ginny laughed.
"According to Dumbledore, he'll be weaker or more susceptible or something if Potter dies or is seriously injured. I don't quite understand it, but if Dumbledore says so, then I'll believe him."
"So, when is this plan being put in motion?" Now the other person, a girl's voice that Hermione didn't recognized, chimed up.
"As soon as possible. Within the next two days, Dumbledore hoped."
Hermione had heard enough. With a stern, focused expression on her face, she turned back and quickly retraced her steps back to the library, where she had been for most of the afternoon. When she left, Draco had still been pouring over his latest Defence Again the Dark Arts essay, so she knew where to find him.
Quite right, upon entering, she saw the blond sitting underneath one of the windows at the back, his usually stoic face scrunched up in annoyance and frustration. Trying to not attract too much attention, she walked as quickly as she dared and plopped down in the chair next to him.
"Malfoy, this is serious." She whispered, but was only met with a snarl.
"Of course it's serious. Do you have any idea how long Lockhart expects this stupid essay to be?! And it's not even about something relevant, it's all to do with his own 'rise to fame', as he calls it."
Battling her desire to defend the handsome Dark Arts teacher, Hermione shook her head. "No, this isn't about the essay. It's about Harry."
Immediately, Draco perked up and seemed to be paying her his full attention.
"What about Harry? Is he in trouble?" he asked, his voice laced with worry.
"Not yet, but I overheard Ginny Weasley talking to someone in one of the corridors. Apparently, she's been talking to the headmaster and he's developed some sort of plan to draw Harry out in the open, away from Voldemort. According to Ginny, that will make him easy to k-kill" her voice caught a little at the prospect of her best friend in such danger, but then she regained her composure and continued. "Also, she said that Dumbledore thinks Voldemort will be an easier target if something serious happened to Harry, like it would make him unstable and weak against attacks."
Without a word, Draco just nodded, as if he had reached a decision. Gathering his things, he slung his bag over his shoulder and grabbed Hermione's arm.
"Come on, we need to tell the Dark Lord about this immediately."
"Yes of course, but how do we get out? It's not as if we can just stroll out of the school or take the Floo without anyone noticing us!"
Sending her a cunning smile, Draco replied with a level of self-assuredness that Hermione envied him. "Of course we won't do anything like that. But we both know someone who can."
Realization dawned on her and a smile slowly spread across her face. "Professor Snape!" she whispered breathlessly, before hurrying after Draco, who had already gone on ahead.
After their conversation earlier that day, neither Harry nor Voldemort had interacted much with each other, choosing instead to just enjoy the silence of the other's company. Harry had found a book on the Dark Lord's bookshelf that was highly fascination, and as such, had poured over the thick tome for several hours. Voldemort had been going through reports from his followers, something that sometimes made the man break the silence with an angry declaration of the stupidity of the follower in question, or he would silently nod along in agreement as his eyes scanned the page. Harry had found it very interesting to just watch how Voldemort worked, how his mind operated during the many hours he needed to dedicate to planning, organizing and generally keeping track of everything that went on in the Magical World.
However, the silence was broken when someone knocked on the door. Voldemort looked up, looking slightly surprised at the fact that someone was disturbing him at this hour, but calmly ordered them to come in.
Harry jumped up at the sight of Hermione and Draco, following directly after Snape, and was about to run to greet them when he noticed the grave expressions on their faces.
"Draco, Hermione, what's the matter?" he asked nervously, quickly putting the book on the table before him.
Neither of them replied, but Snape looked to Voldemort, bowed slightly, before explaining.
"My Lord, Dumbledore is prepared to make his move."
The next half hour went by in a flurry of activity. It had taken several minutes for Harry to calm Voldemort down, as the man had raged after hearing how Dumbledore planned to use Ginny Weasley as bait to lure Harry out from under his protection. Only after several windows had shattered, and subsequently repaired, did he calm down enough for Harry to coax him into sitting down and focus on what they would do now.
"So, obviously we need to make sure that Harry does not go anywhere without anyone accompanying him. Also, I want the wards surrounding the Manor strengthened. Put up another layer of defensive spell work if you have to. Just make sure it's impenetrable."
Snape nodded, bowed and then hurried away to fulfil his Lord's orders. Hermione and Draco were awkwardly remaining, but Voldemort calmed them down. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen for the next few days, according to what you heard the Weasley girl say. I suggest you two go back to your rooms and get some rest. I want to talk to Harry for a moment in private, but I'm sure he'll be joining you soon afterwards."
With an encouraging nod from Harry, the two of them left the room, Hermione only casting a worried glance at Harry before closing the door behind her.
Standing up, Voldemort walked around the desk so that he was directly facing Harry. The look on his face was disconcerting. His red eyes were a conflict of emotions, seemingly torn between determination, guilt, worry and an excited glint of eagerness.
"Harry, I didn't want to bring this up yet. Ideally, this wouldn't be done until much later in our courting period, but considering the circumstances, I think we don't have time to wait. If we do this, Dumbledore will have almost no chance of getting to any of us without us sensing it."
"What are you talking about? I don't understand." Harry replied, cautiously watching the man in front of him.
"I'm talking about a way for us to hasten the completion of the bond between us, a way that will ensure that we are both as near perfectly compatible as we can be. Of course, only when we are officially married will that connection be complete, but there is one ritual that comes before the marriage itself. Traditionally, it is done only a few weeks before the marriage, but there have been incidences of couples who have done it just a few weeks into their courting ritual, with no adverse effects whatsoever."
Harry was still majorly confused, which probably reflected on his face, because Voldemort smiled a little, before returning to his serious expression from earlier.
"Harry, I'm talking about an engagement ritual. A ritual that will form the basis that our marriage will build upon."
Next chapter should be full of action and drama! Hope you're all prepared! I haven't fully mapped out the line of events, but I can promise you that some of our more hated characters will be taken care of ;)
Until then, have a nice week (or day, month, year... Whatever).
