Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.

The True Heir of Slytherin

"Regular speech or spell"

"Parseltongue"

Text

'Thought'

Chapter 15:

The Order of the Basilisk's inner circle sat around the dining table in Castle Slytherin, awaiting their lord.

"Thank you for your patience everyone." Harry calmly but quickly entered the room and made his way to his seat.

Rhys, Pansy, and a few others stood just before he sat down, causing the lord to pause for a moment, sigh, raise a hand, and open his mouth. After another moment of silence, he closed it, and lowered his hand back down.

Sharing a look with Daphne and witnessing her well contained amusement, he sat down. The rest of the room, seeing this, gave slight bows of their heads and took their seats as well. A chuckle escaped Seamus's mouth, seeing Harry's defeated face.

The lord glared at him and pointed a finger at his friend. "Don't you dare. I know exactly what you're thinking."

"How would you know? I didn't say anything!" Seamus leaned back with his arms open.

"You didn't have to. I will make you eat your words, Seamus, if you dare start doing that." Harry hissed in frustration, not meaning to let it slip.

"I don't doubt it, milord." Seamus ribbed his friend.

Shaking his head, Lord Slytherin looked back over the rest of the people at the table. "I'm here to meet with all of you to discuss how we move the war forward from here. We have established a secure base of operations, and, in the unlikely scenario we are discovered, this castle is no better a place to defend. We have been playing defense. It has been necessary, but no war is won on the backfoot. Suggestions?"

"It will be essential to have additional support if we are to face the Ministry and Voldemort. I recommend we reach out and start forming alliances, both abroad and here on the islands." Lord Greengrass spoke.

"We also need to start hitting the Death Eater spots and eliminating them. Not letting them attack us indiscriminately. With their random raiding tactics, we can't make much of a defense against them." Daphne made another point.

Harry looked at both of them for a moment before returning his gaze to the whole table. "I agree with you both. We do need allies, but we also need to start fighting back. Before we move forward with that, however, I would like to ask for opinions on an… intelligence branch if you will."

"An intelligence branch?" Anthony raised a brow.

"If we are looking at this as different focuses of our Order, then it makes sense to form roles beyond just fighting. We have our combat branch, and, at Lord Greengrass's suggestion, now a diplomatic branch." Slytherin nodded to his future in-law before turning to his fiance. "You did also bring up a valid point with needing to take the fight to our enemy, but another point was made clear to me. More than anything we also need information. So far we are getting secondhand word from the Phoenix, but that is not good enough. Who is to say what they omit or even fabricate?

"What do we think?" The young man leaned back.

"There are many children of Death Eaters in our ranks. Could we possibly use that to our advantage?" Astoria spoke up.

"I wouldn't label all of them as likely informants despite their loyalties to us. They along with the rest of us have disappeared and gone no contact. Maybe a couple parents would be willing to share something, but even that is unlikely at this point of time. We need someone inside Tom's camp to feed us direct information." Daphne countered.

"What about Lady Malfoy?" Their mother inquired.

"We might as well ask Snivellus!" Sirius objected and went to open his mouth, but Harry held out his hand with something on his mind.

"First, Lady Greengrass, please explain. Then we will get to you, Sirius."

Iris bowed her head in gratitude before speaking. "Being a fellow pureblood lady, we have traveled in similar circles, and I have discovered a couple things over the years. One: Narcissa Malfoy cares more about her son than anything else. She would do anything for him. Two: She absolutely abhors her husband, but their marriage contract has forced her to appear as the ever faithful wife. Finally, we cannot forget her name before marriage: Black. Her and her other two sisters were known to be quite powerful. It would do us well to have her on our side."

Harry nodded in thought for a moment. "I want Draco's opinion on this. He is her son and deserves to know at least, and he may have other insights."

Rhys snapped his fingers, summoning a house elf to carry out their lord's instructions.

"Now. Snape."

Remus stared at his best friends' son with curiosity. "What about him, Harry?"

"He could be a wealth of information on both the Order of the Phoenix and Voldemort… Plus, he has seemed to find himself in my debt. I think his payments are long due." Beside him, Daphne couldn't help but smirk at his words.

"You summoned me, Lord Slytherin?" Draco spoke as the doors opened. The dispatched house elf had popped them both outside the dining room.

The young man in question sighed in response, dragging his hands across his face. Seeing Draco's surprised look, he quickly replied. "No, please don't get me wrong. I'm not frustrated at your presence. In the last months you have proven yourself a valued member of our organization. Our shared mark is proof of that."

"Then… what is wrong?" The blonde asked, confused.

Harry looked at Rhys pointedly. "As Lord Slytherin, I am allowed to set edicts and forms of decorum within these walls, correct?"

"Yes, milord. Here your word is law."

"Then I dictate this: all members of the Order of the Basilisk shall address me simply as 'Harry' within these walls. This is our home. I may be the lord, but we are all family and friends here. Am I understood?" Lord Slytherin leveled his gaze at all those around him.

"But, sir-" Rhys was quickly interrupted.

"That includes you as well, Rhys, and my mind is set on the manner. Do not try to sway me."

Daphne couldn't help but chuckle at her fiance's antics, and the elf's reaction.

"I wish you luck, sir, in persuading the house elves." Rhys replied politely but obviously unsure on how to proceed.

Harry sighed and turned back to Draco. "Please, have a seat. I'm sorry for that tangent, but I feel like a point needed to be made."

"I understand, mi-" Draco started but halted, seeing Lord Slytherin's eyes harden. "I mean… Harry. I appreciate the trust and confidence you show in us." Finally, he took a seat.

The young lord waved his hand. "You have earned both. I am merely giving you and everyone else the same respect as you have shown me. Now, with what I have just told you in mind, we would like your opinion on something."

The Malfoy heir nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"We have been working on creating an intelligence network within both of our enemies' camps, and your mother's name came up. Your thoughts?"

Draco's eyes widened for a moment before his upbringing kicked back in and he straightened himself. "Mother does have a gift for concealing her true thoughts and emotions… Growing up, I did not realize, but she fooled both my father and I into thinking she was truly subservient… A few months ago, she shared with me her true thoughts…

"My mother shares the Black values, sir. Family does come first, and her duty is to protect me. I am sure your godfather has started teaching you the family's history." Sirius nodded in silent agreement. "She is not a willing supporter of the pretender. Through my father she has been forced."

Harry absorbed his former rival's words for a moment. "Do you believe she would join us if given the option? And for the record, we are not going to leverage your relationship against her. If you do not believe she would or if she does not wish to help, we will not force her."

Draco bowed his head for a few moments before nervously asking, "May I speak without pretense, Lord Slytherin?"

The addressed lord withheld his frustration at the teen's verbiage seeing the fear in his body language. Harry then softened his gaze to ease it along with his words. "Draco. This isn't Hogwarts, and we have stopped being enemies long since before we left. When we are here, at our home, I expect all of us to be completely honest, though respectful, to each other. You don't need my permission to do so."

"Thank you… Harry." Draco straightened up a bit, the lord's words already having an impact. "I am scared to have her fill a role like this, but she is a perfect candidate. I just… I don't want to lose her."

Harry stood and walked over to the blonde and rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. "If you choose to go forward with this, I will do everything in my power to guarantee her safety, Draco. You have my word as Lord Slytherin. We will ensure she has an emergency portkey as well as a backup to get her out of any danger."

"Draco, you have my word as well, as heir apparent to the Black lordship. If Cissy agrees to this and needs help, I'll be right there to get her out."

The teen in question nodded his head solemnly. "I'll reach out to her. She at least deserves to make the choice herself."

Back at his own seat, Lord Slytherin lowered his head for a moment in gratitude. "Thank you. Can you please go write up a letter to her now, and return here when you're done?" Seeing Draco's nod, Harry continued, "Good. We'll leave for Hogwarts soon as you're back."

"Why there?" Draco asked in confusion.

"You can send a school owl out to hide our location. We can leave a portkey for her to immediately return her answer and have it delivered to the outskirts of Hogsmeade. That should keep Castle Slytherin's location safe. Plus, I have some business to take care of with the resident potion master of the school." Harry's eyes hardened as he tried to restrain the rage he felt at the man.

Draco gulped. "Are you going to kill him?"

Harry shook his head. "That is not the goal. His past actions, I believe, have put him severely in my debt. I intend to use that to employ him as another spy for us. That being said, if he decides to do something stupid, I will defend myself appropriately."

"I hope then that he does not." Draco could not argue the lord's point. If Snape attacked Harry, that would be his own mistake. "I'll go draft the letter now."

"Thank you. See you shortly." Lord Slytherin turned to the rest of the table as Draco stood and began to walk out. "Daphne, would you do me the honour of accompanying me?"

"I'd love to." Daphne smirked. "I'm sure it'll be entertaining."

"Who else is going?" Susan spoke up. "I understand wanting to keep the party small, but you should really take a few more with you."

"Get Blaise and Justin to accompany Draco. Daphne and I will be fine."

"No. You two are not going alone. As one of your lieutenants, I would not be doing my job if I let you. Take two more guards for both of you." Susan put her foot down, glaring at Lord Slytherin much to Rhys's discomfort.

Sighing, he relented. "Fine. Since it's your idea, pick who you think should come with."

Susan glanced over at Tracey then Seamus and smirked. "Tracey would make sense as a lieutenant familiar with the dungeons, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind Seamus keeping her company."

Tracey immediately glared daggers at the female redhead while the male one beside her turned crimson.

Unable to stop himself, Harry could not pass up the opportunity to fuck with his best mate. "Oh, is that so? Seamus. What are your thoughts on the matter? Is it… agreeable?"

The now normally composed, if passionate, Irishman continued blushing, utterly speechless.

Tracey diverted her glare over to Harry immediately before looking over his shoulder expectantly.

Harry closed his eyes and frowned as soon as he realized who she was looking at. "Maybe it's best if we drop the matter for now. At Susan's suggestion, though, you both are still coming." He then turned to look at Daphne beside him, hoping his words were enough.

"That sounds like a good idea." She smirked, whether at his antics or in preparation of her own, he couldn't tell.

Within the hour, the group of seven were entering the grounds of Hogwarts, streaking through the early evening darkness as shadows. None outside their order knew how to counteract shadow traveling yet.

The group with two former Gryffindors, stealthily made their way down to the potions classroom while the rest of the school was at dinner. The ministry had staffed more aurors throughout the castle, but, for the Order of Slytherin, they were no obstacle. The underfunded DMLE did not have the manpower to truly secure the castle when the Order of Slytherin had already abandoned it.

"Homenum revelum." Tracey cast at the door, and, when nothing happened, she turned to the others who were standing guard around her. "Clear. Nobody's in."

"Get us in as quietly as possible." Lord Slytherin directed quietly as his eyes still scanned the corridor.

With a nod, she quickly dismantled a few wards such as an alarm with a few waves of her wand then pointed at the door handle. A small, purple spell impacted it a moment later, and the door swung open. After ensuring to replace the former wards and adding their own, the four disillusioned themselves and waited to spring their trap. Snape always at least used to head back to his office attached to the class after dinner according to the former members of the school house.

They did not have to wait long, for not even half an hour later the potions master billowed into the room as always. Apparently, his schedule hadn't changed, and he didn't just show off for others.

Suddenly, he stopped and turned to his left, right towards where Harry was standing, his wand already brandished. "Whoever you are, reveal yourself now!"

To Snape's surprise, Harry's disillusionment charm immediately dropped. His hands were empty at his sides. The potions master quickly hid his shock behind a snarl. "What are you trying to pull, Potter?"

Snape glanced behind himself for a moment. "And don't think I have missed your presence either, Miss Greengrass.

"You'll both need to do better to get the drop on me." With his gaze fully back on Harry, the older man waited.

"First, Snape, I would appreciate being addressed properly rather than your usual terms of endearment that are meant for my father." Lord Slytherin replied as he leaned against the desk behind him, relaxed. Daphne dropped her own disillusionment charm as well and walked over to sit next to her fiance.

"I could care less what a pretentious, self-assured brat appreciates." Snape sneered back.

"Now is that any way to talk to one who you owe a debt?" Lord Slytherin spoke casually, as if bored. Seeing the professor's face drop, he followed up with another question. "Did Dumbledore not tell you I was awaiting word from you?"

At this Snape blanched but remained silent, his eyes not leaving Harry's.

An ethereal hiss sounded in the room as the young Lord's eyes glowed a similar green to the killing curse. He was using as much of his mental training to keep himself under control. "Here's what is going to happen, Severus Snape. You are going to come clean about everything. Then, we are going to work out how you can repay what you owe. Your actions moulded my life. Because of you, I grew up without parents. I grew up with magic-hating muggles, who used any and every excuse to make me feel less than dirt. I have come to collect. Am I understood?"

As Harry spoke, his magical presence intensified until it felt to Snape as if he was being squeezed similarly to apparition except even less friendly.

Hearing no answer yet, Lord Slytherin snapped at the man. "I said, 'am I understood?!'"

Collapsing to his knees under the pressure, Snape finally replied. "Yes! I understand!"

The atmosphere relaxed, and the potions master gasped for air, panting.

"Good. Now. Start from the beginning."

The man still could not help the sneer from growing on his face. "Yes. Because of course everyone owes you, don't they?"

Harry's eyes hardened. "We are talking about you, Snape. Not me. Now. Start talking."

"What would Dumbledore think of his golden boy threatening one of his teachers?" The man still refused to back down. Whether from pure hatred or stupidity, it was hard to tell.

Lord Slytherin crossed his arms. "This is your last chance. I have heard your occlumency shields are incredibly strong. Don't make me see for myself."

Snape and him looked eyes in a glaring stare down. Finally the potions master spoke. "Try it."

A sinister smile grew on Harry Slytherin's lips. "I'll give you a taste." A moment later, Snape felt it. Without even raising his wand, Harry entered his mind.

The potions professor felt it first as a single sharp spike testing just one point. It was strong, but his shields were much stronger. Snape internally smirked, but, before he could enjoy his success for long, Harry tried again. This time there was another, equally strong, spike on the other side along with the first. Then four at once at different parts of the mental shields. Harry kept up attack after attack, doubling the spikes after each attempt. Before long, it felt like an entire wall of needlike attacks against every part of his mind.

Then, suddenly, the assault stopped for a moment. Mentally Snape sighed in relief, but that turned out to be a critical mistake. Lord Slytherin brought the force of all his previous attacks put together against the point in Snape's shields that he found weakest. Snape realized all too late that the teen had only been testing his barriers before, not trying to truly break them until now.

In an instant, Lord Slytherin was in Snape's mind and able to do whatever he wished. Oddly though, he chose to retreat and end the connection.

The potions master collapsed onto the floor panting in a cold sweat. "W-w-why?" The man couldn't even look up.

"Why did I stop? Because I didn't want to break that mind of yours. You are of more use to me alive than dead. Now you know I can take whatever I want from you whenever I want, so there is no point in resisting." Harry watched Snape slowly rise up and nod in understanding.

He had been thoroughly beaten. Sure, he had his memories sorted in a maze within his mind which would have delayed the boy, but from the force and way the young lord attacked, Snape realized what his attacker had. It would only push back the inevitable and cause his own mind damage in the process. He would be lucky to survive.

"Your mother… was my best friend before we both even began Hogwarts. She truly was a light in this world and especially mine. She helped me through so much, but that all changed once we were sorted. We tried to remain friendly, but… she was a Gryffindor and I a Slytherin. The house rivalries were intense even then, and… your father and his friends found me in particular a good target. He never stopped all through our years. Finally in our fifth year… things came to a head."

Snape shook his head, his eyes starting to water but managed to collect himself after a moment. "We were getting pushed further and further apart, and others in my house started offering me protection. They turned out to later become Death Eaters, and with their kindness, my views started getting molded. Lily tried breaking up a particularly nasty encounter, and I called her… a… a mudblood." Snape bowed his head in shame. "She never forgave me, and I fell deeper into the Death Eater crowd until I finally joined after graduating school."

Even with all of Harry's training, he could not hide the shock from his face. His eyes were the size of saucers, and his mouth was ajar.

It seemed, though, now that he had started telling his tale, Snape found himself unable to stop. "Then years after… I overheard two lines of the prophecy while having a drink in the Hog's Head. I took them to the Dark Lord. When I found out that Lily was a target, I begged for her life. He agreed to my face, but I was not convinced…

"In a stroke of desperation, I went to Albus… He promised to protect her. In the end, he failed. I've been in his service, though, ever since, giving him whatever information I could." Snape bowed his head again, unable to look at the teen in front of him.

"Why… why did you do that?" Harry's lord manners had fallen. These revelations had broken every bit of his composure.

"Do you know what your mother's patronus was?" The even more broken man asked.

Harry paused. "Sirius told me recently… it was a doe."

Snape nodded and removed his wand before pointing to his right before casting his spell softly. "Expecto Patronum." The just named animal emerged from his wand as a white light.

"You… you loved her?" Harry gasped. Daphne was leaning against him.

"Yes."

"I can understand why you would hate my father, but… I'm not just my father's son. I am my mother's as well…"

Snape kept his head still bowed. "I'm… sorry."

Lord Slytherin collected himself and stood up before walking over and crouching down in front of his former professor. "I'm not Dumbledore; I don't believe everyone can be redeemed… That being said… I… understand you…

"Thank you for telling me."

Snape looked up. "You're welcome… Harry."

The teen gulped and nodded. "I also wanted to ask you to do something for me… I can deactivate your Dark Mark in exchange and ensure your own safety in exchange." He had initially not intended to offer these to his former tormentor, but seeing the man's regret, he could not help but feel sympathy for him.

"What can I do for you?" Snape's throat felt dry.

"You're a spy for both the old fool and the pretend lord. In exchange for what I have offered, you could turn your talents to the Order of Slytherin's advantage." Lord Slytherin stood.

"You want me to spy for you?" The potions master then stood.

"Yes. You'll keep up your pretenses with both Tom and Dumbles, but you'll ultimately work with us."

Snape exhaled, his mind deep in thought. Seconds passed. Then over a minute. Finally, the man decided and outstretched his hand. "For Lily."

A small smile graced Harry's lips and he grasped the other man's hand. "For Mum." They firmly shook hands once then let go. "When you find you have the time, call for my house-elf. You may remember Dobby. We have much to discuss, but it is probably better if we adjourn for the night. We both I imagine could use the rest."

Snape nodded. "I agree. I will get in touch with you early tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, I wish you both a good night."

"As do we to you, professor." Daphne replied as she got up and intertwined her arm with her fiance's. Snape then observed her give Harry a curious look.

Harry, in turn, smirked back before turning back towards Snape. "Tracey, Seamus? Are you both ready to go as well?"

The two in turn rid themselves of their disillusionment charms. Each was on opposite sides of Snape but positioned at the corners of the room. Clearly, they could have gotten the drop on him whenever they wished.

"Yep. Let's get our arses home. I'm sick of this drafty castle. We keep it so much warmer." Seamus chuckled as he moved up to join his best mate. Tracey was doing the same from her side as she rolled her eyes.

"Then let's go." Lord Slytehrin spoke before nodding to Snape then merging into the shadows. His three companions followed right after. The four made their way back to their designated extraction point just outside the wards of the school. Draco, Blaise, and Justin were already waiting for them, hidden in the shadows of the trees but not merged with them. Once all were back together, they apparated back to Slytherin castle, their mission a resounding success in their minds.

Meanwhile inside the castle, two of their former members were meeting, plotting their revenge. Once they learned their memories had been erased and what they had been up to so far that year, both were livid and determined to bring these dark wizards to their end, by any means the light had available.

Currently they had decided that the corruption in the Ministry was easy to look over for the greater good, especially if they could brand themselves as heroes of their cause.

"Gran once mentioned we were distantly descended from Godric Gryffindor, not close enough to actually inherit anything, but what if…" Neville thought aloud.

"What if what?" Hannah spoke up.

"The light needs something to rally behind. The Dark have You-Know-Who and now Slytherin too. The Light without Dumbledore needs a symbol to look to, and who is best known for defeating the last Lord Slytherin?" The teen boy grinned.

The Hufflepuff's eyes widened in understanding. "Godric Gryffindor. You want to…"

"Present myself as the one to take up his legacy and his fight against the dark of the Slytherin line. I've already sent an owl off to Gran, and she's gathering the support of our allies. Tomorrow's Wizengamot meeting should bring many surprises to the evening news. The announcement alone will get a reaction from Harry Slytherin." Neville couldn't stop the disdain in his voice mentioning that name.

Sure enough the next evening, the Lord in question picked up the evening news and was immediately fuming.

Centuries Old Feud, Rekindled!

In a stunning move, Heir Neville Longbottom has taken his ascendancy to the head of his house with his regent, Agusta Longbottom's, support. His next act in the chamber shows that the house of Longbottom has returned to its previous glory. Lord Harry Slytherin-Potter may have been a lord due to his place in his house, but he holds another lordship now. For his grave acts to undermine the Ministry, the Boy-Who-Lived has been named a Dark Lord. Lord Longbottom was quick to put forth the motion and announced that he personally has taken on Gryffindor's legacy to face off against the infamous Slytherin line. Minister Fudge and the new lard are reportedly in discussion for plans against this new threat to our way of life. We can only hope that it will be enough to stop Dark Lord Slytherin.

Harry's eyes glowed brightly and his magic swirled faster and faster around him the more he read. He didn't even notice until he was finished and saw the room in shambles. Cutlery was implanted in the walls, floor, and even the ceiling. Shards of dishes littered the floor as well. Daphne seemed unaffected but she was staring at him, concerned, along with the others who had needed to protect themselves from the debris, but thankfully not his magic itself.

"Neville Longbottom, it seems, wants a war. Well, he will have one. Daphne, summon the rest of the inner circle. Call me a Dark Lord?" Lord Slytherin chuckled mirthlessly. "They'll have one."

AN: Another chapter in the books. Feel free to let me know your thoughts. It's always welcome.

As Always,

Occidere Prima Vel Occidi