Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Hi everyone! I have sadly noticed a drop in interest in this story, or at least, in the reviews I got for the last chapters. Please know that I read every single review you write and answer them all (or nearly all of them) and that I really appreciate the time you spend to write to me, even if you just send me a few words. It's not because I'm approaching my 30th chapter that I don't need support to keep writing, after all. ^^

With that said, thank you to all my reviewers and here's some slash to pick up your interest again! ;)

To my guest reviewers:

autumngold: Little precision. It's Moody who gave the explosives to the twins and not the opposite. They are supposed to work on them to do something...we don't know what yet! ;)

FanFictionLover: Did you mean that Neville was 'candid'? Was that the word your were looking for? And damn, good thing you don't know my address or I'd be worried with all those threats! :P Don't worry, I do know of the twins' genius. I'd just like to point out that they seem a bit reluctant about their new project, though. Who knows what this will mean for the future of Magical Britain?

guest and Debauchi: Thank you :)

Boblove321: I'd really like you to spray your orange juice again, but I'll admit that you shouldn't kill your laptop in your enthusiasm for this story. So, stay clear of liquids while you read this chapter ;)

On with the show!

Warnings: sexual situation, explicitness, slash

Chapter 28: 28th of September 1997. Of Frustration and Attraction

The Dark Lord of Britain came out of the first day of the International Confederation of Wizards' meeting itching to curse the rest of its members.

Not only had they dismissed his arguments about nuclear power and bombs, they had also pegged it as a concern of the past and the French Minister had pronounced him "dépassé". He wasn't stuck in the past, for Morgana's sake! The threat that had been there before still remained! It wasn't because the Cold War had ended that the bombs suddenly disappeared!

All those preeminent diplomats could talk about was 'The Internet' and 'Computers'. Not that it wasn't such a big concern, he could understand their worries about it, but even if they were discovered through modern information technology, the result still led to the same question of how to defend the Wizarding population against Muggle weapons of mass destruction after their secret is revealed and the repression and fear has escalated enough for the Muggles to take arms. It would just happen through a different channel than what they had feared before.

He Apparated back to his Fortress with a quick twist. When he arrived, he sighed tiredly, rubbing his forehead to calm his raging headache. He had spent far too much effort convincing the rest of the ICW that he wasn't dangerous enough to warrant an intervention after his Victory years ago. Now, they felt like they could disrespect him with impunity. He would have to correct this misunderstanding, particularly with the French Minister. His last torture session had been too far ago and he was starting to feel frustrated. That idiotic perverted librarian who dared touch Harry had been a very unsatisfying kill. He needed more. Perhaps he should unearth those plans for an invasion of France that he had buried after realising that bringing his own country back to its former glory was a priority over world domination...

The sight that greeted him in the entrance parlour of his home interrupted his sadistic thoughts of revenge.

There, lying on his couch and apparently sleeping deeply, was his little Horcrux sweetly and innocently waiting for his return. He felt something in his chest stir at the sight.

I could get used to that, he thought, his head cocked to the side, examining Harry closely. The handsome face was lined with worry even in his sleep. He also had dark shadows under his eyes.

Has he lost some sleep trying to find the truth in the soul mate explanation? Or about this hopeless Duel?

He knew that Harry hadn't believed him as easily as he would have hoped. It just went to show how perceptive Harry was with him. He had devised the strategy on the spot when Harry had demanded an explanation for why he didn't want to kill him. As he absolutely didn't want to clue Harry in the question of Horcruxes and Soul Magic, he had thought the soul mates myth was a perfect alternative to telling him the truth.

The only problem was that soul mating was a ridiculous notion that supposed a certain degree of pre-ordained Order, which he had always held in contempt. And he had already told as much to Harry before. And he hadn't been able to perform his 'confession' with just the right amount of sappiness either. It had made Harry suspicious.

He also knew that Harry had come worryingly close to discover the truth about it when he searched for Soul Magic. Thankfully, he had instructed Nagini to watch him when he did his research and to intervene should he be heading in the right direction. He had taken to remove every book talking about Horcruxes from the Library and to work in there instead of in his study after this particular near miss.

He didn't regret his decision either, because the familiarity that came with regular contact (even if they just read or worked separately) had eased Harry into the notion of a more stable and peaceful relationship between them.

And it had also led to furthering...interesting developments between the two of them. It would take some time before it reached a satisfying level, but he could wait if it meant that he could slowly but surely corrupt his little Horcrux. The idea that he would be the one to initiate Harry on the subject made his possessive side growl in satisfaction.

The young man was undoubtedly delicious and his innocence on this matter was delectable. He also had just the right amount of instincts to know what to do and how to react. The way their magic mingled together hinted to very pleasant moments in a near future, he was sure of it.

Not to mention that he had never been with anyone whose magic was as powerful as Harry's (there were always security risks to having sex with people of a similar power level to your own...and they tended to be too insufferable to tolerate, and too difficult to get rid off discretely anyway), nor had he ever been with someone who took delight in His magic in particular and could sense it with such intensity.

Therefore, this was a very promising investment of his time.

He scoffed internally when he thought of his initial reservation about pursuing a physical relationship with the young man. Since when did he restrain himself when he saw something he wanted? And Harry, being his Horcrux, was practically made for him! I have to be careful or I'll sound like I believe in the whole soul mate nonsense too.

There was, however, a small nagging worry at the back of his head about how Harry would react if his little Horcrux discovered that he had lied to him. It would probably be even worse than if he had just refused to answer why he didn't want to kill him, especially if one considered the sexual aspect of their relationship. Harry would probably jump on the conclusion that he had manipulated him and used him for his satisfaction. Which he had, in a way, if he was honest. He just thought it was a fair deal as long as it was mutually satisfying.

Looking at the handsome teenager spread on his couch, the Dark Lord had an idea. He decided to carry the young man to his bed. Last time had resulted in one of the deepest and most relaxing sleep he had in years. The only reason he had let the other go back to his room afterwards was because he knew the teenager wasn't ready for more and he didn't want to put such pressure on him so early. After all, if he messed it up, he'd be stuck with the results for years afterwards.

He bent down, slipped his arms beneath the slumbering teen's head and his knees and lifted him close to his chest, physically carrying him to his bed. He could have done this with magic, of course, but there was a certain satisfaction in being able to carry the other's weight with the strength of your arms. It made you feel manly in a way that waving a piece of wood around would never really satisfy. Voldemort secretly blamed his Muggle upbringing for giving him such strange inclinations.

Harry mumbled in his sleep from being jostled and turned his head around to bury it in the Dark Lord's chest, breathing in his scent and sighing contentedly. It made said Dark Lord smile smugly. Even in his sleep, Harry wanted to get closer to him. It had also happened in the night they shared the bed. He had woken up to find his little Horcrux plastered on his side and halfway lying on him, their legs tangled together and arms around each other. It was incredibly intimate and he hadn't known what to think of it either until he justified it with the Horcrux's pull for its 'mother soul'. It also explained why he thought that Harry's presence at his side made his temper milder than usual. The Horcrux stabilised his soul parts.

But no matter. If he woke up so close to the other boy again, he'd face the questions with his soul mate excuse.

The door of his rooms opened automatically at his approach. He got in and carefully lowered his precious load on the bed. The young man immediately frowned at the loss of contact. Voldemort undressed with a quick spell (another thing he preferred to do manually usually) and prepared for bed in efficient movements. Harry's hand had started to explore the bed around him in his sleep, probably trying to find him there. It was disgustingly endearing.

He slipped under the covers, manoeuvring his little Horcrux to bring him close against his chest. Harry's head found its way to the crook of his shoulder and rubbed delightfully against its new pillow, breathing him in deeply and sighting contentedly.

I think I'm starting to get slightly too attached to this young man, he thought with his own sigh. That's another first...His thought drifted off as he fell asleep quicker than usual.

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o0o0o

The next day, he felt himself awaken by a sense of discomfort. He quickly took stock of the situation. He was on his side, his arms were tightly wrapped around someone and he was apparently in the process of rubbing his morning wood against a delightfully firm and fleshy backside. Ah, the discomfort wasn't coming from him, but from the owner of the backside in question. He supposed he should feel embarrassed, but he wasn't one for such feelings and it felt too good for him to bother. And Harry thought he was asleep so might as well enjoy it while it lasted. He might not get another opportunity like that for a while.

He slowly extricated an arm from where it was tangled with Harry's and imitated the clumsy movements of slumber when he skilfully moved it downwards to rest against the young man's arousal. Hum, delightful, he thought with satisfaction at what he found there.

Harry released a strangled gasp at the contact, as if he didn't want to risk waking him up. He felt guilt and excitement mixed together sent to him by their soul link. Interesting, so he's only ill at ease because he thinks I'm asleep and he's taking advantage of it without waking me up...Good, let's see up to where I can take this.

He thrust lightly against the younger man's backside, pulling him closer to him with an arm and pressing against Harry's arousal with the other in the same movement. His little Horcrux automatically answered the movement by grinding against his lap. Such beautiful instincts you have for this, my Harry.

He nuzzled the younger man's hair and buried his head in the neck bared to him. The young man gasped audibly this time and arched against him. He brushed against the other's arousal again, this time sending a bit of magic in his hand and heard a deliciously wanton moan come from the young man's chest. He sighed, letting his breath wash over the soft expanse of flesh offered to him.

Harry shivered violently. Hmm, I couldn't have slept through that, no matter how exhausted I was.

He decided to 'wake up'. His possibilities while staying convincingly asleep were quite limited, after all.

He slipped the hand that was on the other's arousal up under the young man's shirt and caressed lazily the bare flesh he found there. He hummed against the other's neck and started to press a few open-mouthed kisses against it. He wouldn't act like an embarrassed virgin. He knew that even if he had woken up buried balls deep within the other's body, he would have just continued on with it and not pulled away in offense. If someone he chose as a bed mate wanted to offer him their body first thing in the morning and give him a nice surprise to start the day in a good way, why would he refuse, after all?

But Harry hadn't exactly offered. He had just passively let himself be molested. He hadn't even chosen to share the bed with him.

The Dark Lord sighed again and decided to lift his head and open his eyes to check on the emotional state of his little Horcrux.

His eyes met bottomless wells of green that were looking at him uncertainly. Better than anger, at least. He propped himself up on an elbow and brought his other hand to caress Harry's face.

"Good morning," he said smoothly, his voice rougher than usual because he had just woken up and was very much aroused. He tried not to think about the firm butt against which said arousal was still pressed.

Harry's eyes widened impossibly more in surprise before his body relaxed in relief. He had probably been worried of his reaction.

"Good morning" answered Harry in a low voice, before clearing his throat noisily. "Hum, er, could you, maybe, let me go for a bit?"

There you go. I knew I went too far too fast. I just hope he won't be traumatised for too long.

He sighed, withdrawing slightly, thinking that the other would just bolt away as fast as he could. He let himself fall back on the bed and covered his face with an arm, exhaling slowly to calm his arousal. The sounds of flight he expected to hear didn't come. He lifted his arm off and turned to where the boy had been. He was still there, lips pursed and looking at him hesitantly, but without looking particularly afraid. Well, at least there's that.

"I need to go to the toilet...can I go here or do you want me to go back to my rooms, or so?" he said, his face reddening slightly.

The Dark Lord lifted an eyebrow.

"I think that after waking up like you did, you have earned the right to use my bathroom."

Harry blushed in earnest at being reminded of that moment. He hesitated again, looking around.

"So...which door?" he asked.

Ah, of course, he has never really been here before.

He pointed to the one on the left and said: "That's the exit", to the one on the wall facing his bed and slightly to the right: "My study." and he finished with the one on his right closest to him: "And that's the bathroom."

He watched Harry climb off the bed and shuffle clumsily to the bathroom while 'subtly' trying to shield his arousal from view. Voldemort didn't even try to hide his amusement at the failed attempt.

He lied back against the bed's abundant fluffy pillows, his hands folded behind his neck in a posture of confident relaxation. He looked at the ceiling, thinking about the second session of the ICW meeting that would take place that evening...

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o0o0o

When he heard the door of the bathroom open, he turned to see Harry exit it. The young man was staring at him with a determined look on his face. The Dark Lord frowned.

Which decision could he possibly have made so early in the morning?

His question was answered quite rapidly when Harry, instead of paying him a hasty good-bye or, at most, circling back around the bed to go sit on its edge as he imagined the other would do, just climbed on top of him and sat on his lap. Just like that. The Dark Lord felt his eyebrows lift on his forehead at the young man's boldness.

Everybody who had tried to take such liberty with him in bed without his explicit consent were usually punished severely, or at least shown the door. But this was Harry we were talking about. The boy was anything but submissive.

Normally, at this point, it would start to annoy him, but he was usually annoyed at his past lovers because they were only pretending to not be afraid of him. In reality, the minute he'd raise his voice or be a bit curt with them they'd shy away or start begging for mercy as quickly as they could.

No wonder I never kept them for long! He thought distractedly when he felt Harry's lips passionately devour his and the younger man's legs tighten around his hips.

He pushed the covers away, not liking the additional barrier between them and pressed hastily Harry back on him. The arousal that hadn't left him for long flared back to life when he felt the other's warmth seeping through the thin layers of their pyjamas. Enough dallying, he thought firmly as he gripped the bottom of Harry's shirt and lifted it off the boy who let him proceed without a sound of protest. The delicious sight of Harry's finely muscled torso greeted him finally. At last, he thought as he brought his mouth to the other's nipple and started sucking and nibbling it. Harry arched up against him at the new strange feeling. Voldemort's hands slid to the other's hips and grinded them against his arousal rhythmically. The boy was making delicious sounds above him, gasping here, moaning there, and panting desperately in between. So far, so good, he thought, wondering if he could introduce a more...satisfying aspect to this mindless dry humping.

He slowly slid one hand off Harry hip and trailed it idly along the inside of the young man's thigh. An eager grind against his arousal answered his movement. He took it as an authorisation to continue. When the circling of his hand encountered Harry's hardness the first time, he feigned an accident. The young man gasped loudly at the contact, but relaxed when he concluded it wasn't made on purpose.

I never do anything without a purpose, Harry; you'll have to learn that sooner or later.

When he made a second pass at the manoeuvre, his little Horcrux gasped again, but softly this time, with an eager undertone to it. He decided to make his move in the third pass up the other's thigh. He boldly ran the backside of his hand along the hardness and felt Harry shiver and press himself against his hand in answer.

Ah, my sweet Harry, so eager for my attention.

He unlatched his mouth from the now hard pebbled nipples on the other's chest and angled his head up to look at his little Horcrux. The latter, when he saw that the Dark Lord was looking at him, blushed a delicate shade of pink and smiled at him slightly before attacking his lips again, both of his hands cupping the side of the older man's neck and playing with the small hair at the nape of his neck.

He dipped his hand inside the young man's pyjama, closed his hand around Harry's arousal and pumped it once. He felt the young man moan in his mouth and grind his behind in the Dark Lord's lap. The magic was pulsing around them; swaddling them in warmth and making them both feel electrified and dizzy.

As they continued to grind against each other, the Dark Lord suddenly felt something tugging at his magic sharply, pulling it away. When he closed his eyes and searched his magic in slight panic, he discovered that their soul link was wide open and, for a moment, he could feel more than an echo of what Harry was living: he could feel himself transported in the body of the younger man writhing above him. He could sense his own hand touching the other's arousal from both perspectives at the same time. He could get the sensorial stimulation from them both at the same time, and it worried him as much as it aroused him.

He thought distractedly that it must be what possession felt like, but he hadn't done anything to cause that.

As he felt Harry's climax come close, both from his own detached analysis of the young man's shallow breathing and erratic movements and from feeling it in Harry's body as if it was his own, he was pulled back painfully to his body as a climax was wrenched out of him by his Horcrux's orgasm.

He opened his eyes, staring hungrily at Harry's face scrunching up in sweet pain as he came, his eyes closed tightly, head thrown back in passion, frowning at the moment's intensity.

When he came back down to earth, Harry bent his neck and leaned his head on his lover's shoulder. The Dark Lord's arms came up lazily to surround the other, pressing the latter's slightly sweaty body against his. They panted in unison, trying to catch their breath, feeling the satisfaction fill them and calm them down, their magic wafting lightly around them.

Sweet Morgana and the gods above, that was disturbingly delicious.

He had never felt anything quite like it. It was as if he had temporarily occupied two bodies at the same time. He was flabbergasted by the experience.

He was still staring blankly in front of him, eyes wide open and unseeing as he puzzled over what had happened when he felt Harry straighten back up and detail his expression.

"I'm guessing this wasn't a normal occurrence," stated Harry in a firm voice.

He forced himself to turn his gaze to the younger man who was watching him closely. He swallowed, trying to give himself time to find a possible excuse, but he came up short. For one of the first times in his life, his genius brain and devious imagination failed him. He could only shake his head.

"I'm not sure of what happened, but no, it wasn't normal." He started to caress the skin of Harry's back in small circles. Harry closed his eyes and shivered slightly, inhaling deeply. His intense reaction made the Dark Lord's lips stretch in a small amused smirk.

When Harry opened his eyes again, he was still serious and determined to have an answer, but something seemed to have softened in his gaze.

"How did it feel, for you? I mean, I barely even touched you..." His pursed his lips, as if he felt displeased of not having given him an equal share of attention and was resolute that such an injustice never happened again.

The Dark Lord snorted. Harry didn't need to worry about it. While he wasn't a selfish lover (not as much as most expected him to be, at least), he'd never let a sexual encounter end before he felt satisfied by it. Looking at the teen still sitting on his lap, he decided, for once in his life, to be completely honest about what happened. It was too strange to lie about it.

"I felt everything as if I was in your body, getting the same stimulation you got, on top of feeling the effect of your...enthusiastic movements in my own body. I have never felt anything like it before."

He saw Harry's eyebrows lift up in surprise first before frowning and narrowing his eyes in his direction.

"It was you that I felt? You were in me? I could kind of feel a weird invasion, but it didn't feel like Legilimency, so I let it pass, thinking it was your magic doing wonky stuff again." He paused slightly, looking at him in question. "Do you know how this happened?

-As much as it pains me to admit it, I had no idea this would happen and only have but theories at this point as to why it did. I would guess that it has something to do with the special connection we share.

-The soul mate bond, you mean?" Answered Harry, one eyebrow lifted in question.

He hummed what could be taken as a confirmation. All right, maybe he wouldn't be completely honest if Harry started asking about delicate questions that relied on lies he told previously. He turned his eyes on Harry's naked torso in front of him and started grazing it with the back of his hand. The skin was so soft and flawless.

He had a fixation on smooth skin, he knew. It was rather recent. It dated back from his resurrection, in fact. He had looked down at his new body with its human baby soft skin, remembering the scales he previously sported in disgust and had sworn to himself that he would never let himself go back to that state. Since then, he had become slightly obsessed with observing his lovers' skin and testing how smooth it was. It seemed to him that Harry's was the smoothest he ever touched. Perhaps because he was the youngest lover he had taken since then as well.

He felt Harry's head lean back on his shoulder and the young man's hand tentatively return his touch, brushing deliciously against his skin, reminding him that he didn't have scales and that he wasn't bald anymore. He had hair: glorious, long, silken, dark hair. It was shallow and narcissistic of him to care about such trifling details, he knew. But he let himself indulge in the harmless sin.

He exhaled in contentment. He had missed this time of peacefulness that sometimes accompanied sexual satisfaction. In the past months, he had become unusually dissatisfied with his previous lovers, being more violent with them and dismissing them one after the other after a shorter time than normal. They didn't seem to satisfy him anymore and he sometimes felt restless, jittery, even. When Harry crashed into his life, he had quickly thrown away his latest conquest, obsessed that he was with the young man's presence. He couldn't say that he regretted it; even if took some time to reach this point. Part of the pleasure was in the chase, after all, as he had told Harry not so long ago.

His thoughts were interrupted by Harry's growling stomach. He chuckled at the young man who was looking at him a bit sheepishly.

They would go have breakfast and then he would need to work on his second presentation for the ICW meeting that night. He would have liked to leave the other dignitaries rot in their ignorance about bombs and missiles, but he had to at least attempt to teach them some of the information control techniques and wards he had developed. And he would also promote the extraction of Muggleborns from their families, or at least plead for a generalised oath of secret physically preventing them from talking about magic to anybody outside of the direct family. The subject was too important to withhold information only because he was still bitter about the previous day's frustrating meeting.

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o0o0o

All throughout breakfast, Harry was in an exceptionally good mood, always sending him small smiles and eating with enthusiasm. The young man didn't bother him too much when he saw that he was distracted, however.

It made him particularly pleased because, if there was one thing that had always made him lose his patience with his previous lovers, it was their inability to shut their mouth and appreciate the silence when the Supreme Leader of the British Wizarding World was obviously thinking about important matters.

That was one of the reasons why he usually sent them back home to sleep instead of keeping them in his bed for the night. He was too busy and had other priorities than accommodating them when they felt awkward if they didn't do small talk at the breakfast table.

But Harry was lost in his own thoughts and didn't seem to mind the silence. He let himself exhale in relief silently. For him, it only confirmed that he had taken the right decision in pursuing a physical relationship with his Horcrux, despite that morning's strange occurrence.

Now, back to the question of how to put the French Minister in his place...

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I hope this clarified a few things. I really like this chapter :)

Tell me how you found it! Thanks in advance for the reviews! :)