It's been a while! I know my updates have been sporadic since 2023 happened especially for this story. I really don't have many excuses, but school. College was stressful this semester, but I passed and am on summer break. While I am working all this summer, I'll get more updates out more quickly. Enjoy this long chapter to make it up, and vulnerable Harry and Ella!

Cross posted on Ao3 under Fireiseverywhere

Chapter 33: Only the Young…

*You're a valuable asset, child.*

For a few seconds, Harrison didn't know what to say to the younger Dark Lord. He was dumbfounded. Those words that were echoed gave him a weird tightening feeling in his chest as he knew a compliment from the Dark Lord was massive. The Dark Lord doesn't do that, but it meant that he did something that no one ever would have accomplished before. He was useful. It almost seemed that all that time that he waited just for this moment, for the time he spent in Azkaban, was worth it, just to get to this moment.

*Thank you, my lord,* Harrison told him, a small smile dancing on his lips.

*I know one thing for sure…. If I ever get my body back, I would love to be able to teach you the things I know,* Tom Riddle said in a low voice, switching the conversation over to something else, ignoring what Harrison told him.

*I'd appreciate that.*

*For being only eleven years old, you have been through things that most adults wouldn't have thought about. You're willing to join my cause and fight for it at your young age. That is impressive…*

Harrison smiled softly before he murmured, "I hope to turn the tide of the incoming war when it comes."

*I have no doubt that you will, however…* Tom Riddle said, suddenly switching to English in a low tone. "You're only eleven years old. A child. You have no place for fighting in a war that should only be fought by adults. I don't care how much your experience is different or how you're dedicated to my cause. You're age is what impacts you the most.

"War should not be fought by child soldiers. That is inhumane and dragging those who do not understand the thing that they are fighting for. Children are the ones who are the most easily coerced into things, and get exploited by adults who should know better, yet continue to rope the next generation into it. It's one of the reasons why I dislike Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore doesn't know when to fight his own battles. It's why his plans are so aligned with making sure that the boy-who-lived is the person who defeats you, despite the fact that the boy-who-lived is only eleven years old," Harrison pointed out.

Tom Riddle gave him a dark smile, "Yes… The boy who lived is one of the problematic aspects, much like his Order of Phoenix."

"The Order of the Phoenix? I know that they were tasked with bringing you down, but how does that involve child soldiers?" Harrison asked.

"As you know, they were the ones tasked with bringing me down. How do you think Dumbledore managed to get the numbers in the first war? Dumbledore spread his propaganda to the students, mainly to those who were deemed light. That would typically mean that those who came from Gryffindor or Hufflepuff managed to join his Order, and do secret missions for him while they were in school. Your parents, Sirius Black, Wormtail and Remus Lupin are the most notorious case of that.

"Your parents and their friends graduated Hogwarts during the height of the first wizarding world. They joined the Order of the Phoenix officially right after. Of course, they got married and had kids. I admit it's my fault that I was blinded by the prophecy that Snape told me about one of the Potter kids who were destined to overthrow me. I was too obsessed with having power and defeating Dumbledore that a mere toddler would have that kind of power to defeat me.

"You know the rest of what happened that fateful night. I just never imagined that Dumbledore would hold the prophecy high in the air, and preach that a first year at Hogwarts is the one destined to defeat me," Tom Riddle explained to him. "My older self was incredibly blinded by the philosopher's stone to realize it was a trap set up by Dumbledore when you explained it to him."

*What about you? Would you deploy child soldiers?* Harrison asked, slipping into parseltongue.

*I admit, I did, but they were sixteen, much older than you are now. I did give them the dark mark, and assigned them tasks in order to prove their worth to me, but they wouldn't do raids or be on the frontlines until they were of age.*

*Dumbledore, however, wouldn't care. It's why he's currently trying for Saeviour to prove that he has the power to vanquish you, yet, he doesn't. I know he doesn't. I've seen it. He wants Saeviour on the frontlines so he can be in the back, and control all of his chess pieces,* Harrison added.

*You, however, already proved your worth to my cause. Like I said before, I don't want you to be on the frontlines, unless it comes down to it, which hopefully it won't. But Dumbledore is highly unpredictable at times and we don't want to reveal our cards too early, either.*

*Fair, but when we take down Hogwarts and Dumbledore. The Potters and the Boy-Who-Lived is mine. I want to have the satisfaction of hearing them scream and knowing that they wronged the wrong person.* Harrison told him, his green eyes shining brightly over the prospect of his long awaited revenge that would come true when it came time for it.

A knock was heard, interrupting their conversation. Harrison and Tom Riddle looked over at the door, with a surprise etched on their face. The younger Dark Lord looked like he was about to strangle the person who dared to interrupt him, but Harrison knew exactly who it was. Luckily, Sirius wasn't the one who was going to open the door if Harrison didn't answer it, or so, he hoped.

*That we can work out when the time comes,* Tom Riddle told him in a whisper.

Harrison nodded.

Suddenly, the darkness started to retreat. Tom Riddle's form disappeared into thick clouds of darkness all retreating back into the locket. Soon, the darkness was no more with the locket closed and latched, still sitting on Harrison's lap, as if nothing ever happened. Harrison blinked in response, trying to comprehend what just happened, but he knew Sirius was waiting for him to open the door.

He got up from the bed, slipping the locket around his neck and felt the coldness against his pale skin. He knew the figure in the locket wouldn't hurt him again. He was too much of a valuable asset for the younger Dark Lord, as long as he continued to please the Dark Lord. He tucked the locket into his robes, and opened the door to reveal Sirius Black.

"Everything okay? I heard hisses that didn't sound like they were human?" Sirius Black asked.

"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me," Harrison told him.

Sirius sighed, "Look I get that you've been through things. I don't want to pry, but if you need to open up. I'm always here. I'm not going to question the things you hide, because frankly, that's not my place. I know you got secrets. Hell, everyone has secrets, but I just wanted to open that door in case…"

"Okay…" Harrison said rather dismissively. He really didn't like how this conversation was going too much, because he didn't want to have that type of relationship with Sirius. He knew he was his godfather, but that bridge burned long ago, and right now, there were things that were more important to see first.

Sirius cleared his throat, "Oh yeah… Narcissa sent a letter and it just arrived…. We're having dinner with the Malfoys tomorrow night."

"You couldn't say anything earlier?" Harrison asked, grabbing the piece of parchment from Sirius's hand. He read it for himself, and smiled.

"I was going to, but then I heard hisses and thought to wait until you were done with whatever you were doing."

"Oh."

"Well… I'll leave you to it just in case, you want to finish whatever you were doing or whatever," Sirius said. He turned away and Harrison watched him leave. He closed the door, and sat on his bed, contemplating on what happened with the younger Dark Lord.

…

The next day, Harrison got dressed and had lunch with Sirius before heading over to Malfoy Manor. He grabbed a handful of the silvery floo powder from the mantle of the fireplace, and called out,

"Malfoy Manor!"

He felt the familiar whirling in the fireplace like he was being sucked through a whirlpool. The effects eventually wore off, and the Malfoy Manor drawing room became much more clearer. The long ornate table remained in the center of the room, along with the two crystal chandeliers hanging above on the ceiling. The pipe organ in one of the far ends of the room with a fireplace lit with a fire that casted orange, yellow flames across the room, with dancing shadows on the dark purple walls that hung portraits of the Malfoy family ancestors.

He was about to step out of the fireplace before small arms wrapped around him. He refrained from the urge of wanting to push the person off of him, before he realized that the small, skinny arms belonged to Ella, and she was embracing him with a hug.

"Harry!" Ella greeted him.

Ella looked up at him with a beaming smile on her face. It'd been only a couple of days since she was released, but the constant, healthy meals and he had no doubt that healers were also giving her the best treatment (courtesy of the Malfoy's wealth, no doubt). She had the clear gaunt look on her face, but it looked like it was starting to fill out in some places, where it wasn't so thin, before. He also noticed that her curly, dirty-blonde hair had more elasticity and had a more tighter curl pattern rather than the loose curl pattern she had during her time in Azkaban. It was clean and wasn't matted with knots and grime.

It took Ella a couple of minutes before Ella finally let go of him. She backed away so that he was able to get out of the fireplace. She instantly attached herself to his hip, clutching onto his black robes, afraid that he was probably a wisp of her imagination.

"I'm so glad you're out of there," Harrison told her softly. "Away from the dementors, but at least, you'll be able to see the outside world and for what it's worth."

"So am I," Ella whispered. "You wouldn't believe how much Uncle Lucius and Aunt Cissa are really making it up. They're making me seem like a kid again."

"You are a kid," Harrison pointed out. "You're only nine years old, and barely have any acknowledgement of what lies outside the world of Azkaban. You have the pleasure of being a kid…"

"But aren't you one, too?" Ella asked. "Last time I checked, you're only eleven years old. Simply two years older than me, so why can't you experience being a kid?"

"Because I simply don't have the option to be one," Harrison told her, dodging the question.

It was simply the truth, he just simply half-fibbed it. He knew the adults in charge of the world weren't going to do anything. They were too busy pointing fingers at people, and deem them if they were either dark or light, and the same went for magic also. As much as he knew that he could simply be a kid and do whatever kids do, he couldn't turn a blind act to those who raised him. He couldn't just stop the inequalities that were blatantly obvious, not when he was affected by the system in place. Ella had the opportunity, because she was the hope for a better future and didn't really need to know these things too much.

"Oh…" Ella scrunched up her face and asked, "Is that you refuse to let anyone else bring me back my parents and the Dark Lord."

"Partially yes… You don't deserve the harshness the world gives you. It isn't right, whatsoever. The thing is, you can't wait around for someone to understand what they are doing with inequality. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is do the work yourself because who else is going to do it for you? I know from my experience that the adults who are too busy pointing fingers at each other, that they don't care. They don't care about you and I.

"I don't have that luxury because the world never presented me with that opportunity. You have the chance to be a kid, and be as carefree as you want. Even though you were raised in Azkaban- you had a loving family who would do anything for you. You were their beacon of hope in that place. They were all living on because of you."

"What about you?" Ella asked.

"Me? I was too far gone. I never knew what love or family was because I was the one pushed into the shadows. I couldn't understand the hurt and the pain the Potters gave me, and realized that love was simply a word that was thrown around. Maybe if I was raised differently, I wouldn't be this way, but sometimes, it's better being alone. You don't have to rely on other people and watch other people hurt you."

"You don't have to be alone…. You have me," Ella told him.

Harrison let out a small chuckle at that. It was cute, he had to admit that. Rather naïve, but it was still cute.

"I know. That's why I want you to be a kid. You can experience the things I wouldn't have too, no arguments on that."

"Okay…" Ella asked. She let out a loud sigh before she changed the conversation, "Do you want to see what I just got? It's in my new room!"

Her tone changed from being dismayed to someone being excited, through the way her voice got higher pitched by the end. She was practically jumping up and down by the time she finished her sentence. He couldn't help but smile at that.

"Sure," Harrison told her. "Lead the way."

Ella practically skipped out of the drawing room with Harrison, struggling to keep pace with her. There were several times where Ella had to stop and look from left to right, and from right to left. He helped her navigate the place as soon as he recognized that it was practically right where he stayed during the course of winter break. He could tell that she was struggling a little bit, which he understood, considering that this was realistically her second full day of being free, and Malfoy Manor at times, was a maze.

It took them a little bit, but they had finally reached Ella's room. It was only a couple of doors down from where he stayed, and he also noted that it was also directly across Draco's room. Ella opened the door to reveal a rather large spacious room. It was bare in some places, but it otherwise looked like it was a child's bedroom that seemed like just a temporary space, more than anything.

The room had walls coated in a peach shade, with white curtains hung across the window. The curtains were open to let a lot of sunlight through the window and into the room, making it seem brighter than what it actually was. There was a large bench that had a couple of stuffed animals surrounding it, which overlooked the Malfoy's grand garden that contained a variety of flowers, all in full bloom, and peacocks strutting around through the garden. Occasionally, one of the peacocks would fan out their feathers to reveal an assortment of blue and green feathers, standing tall and prideful.

The room also contained a queen size bed that contained a couple of pillows stuffed in white, silk, pillowcases. There was a light pink blanket which was pulled tightly across the corners, and tucked underneath the pillowcases. What caught Harrison's eye was the shelves in the room that contained not only several things of children's books, but also several photographs that featured a younger Bellatrix and Narcissa, both of them dawning their Hogwarts' robes. There were also several photos that had just Bellatrix and Rodolphus, some of them where they would sit by a large oak tree, or their wedding day with Bellatrix in her white wedding dress, smiling at her husband, and the other was when Ella was born. He noted the young baby in Bellatrix arms who looked exhausted, but was still smiling and looking at the camera.

"It's not much, but it's much better than what I'm used to," Ella told him. "The toys, stuffed animals and books were all Draco's old stuff that he didn't use anymore. Aunt Cissa did a little bit of the décor, and found several pictures with Mama in them that she had lying around. She thought it would help me adjust to a normal life, and remember them, until they get free."

Harrison smiled at her, "It's good. Narcissa is your mom's sister, so it should help if you miss them. Maybe she can tell you stories about your mama, also."

"Anyways, look!" Ella said in an enthusiastic tone. She held up a wand in her hand. It was the color of deep mahogany, and almost looked like the size of his wand, if not a little bit shorter. "It's a training wand! Aunt Cissa took me to Diagon Alley yesterday and bought me a wand! Now I could be just like you and anyone else."

"Isn't that cool," Harrison told her. "You're able to channel your magic through a wand, and define it more. Here in a couple of years, you'll be on your way to Hogwarts, or another Wizarding school."

"I never thought about that… I can't wait until then," Ella told him, with a large smile on her face.

"You have a couple of years left, but those years will go by fast," He told her.

"Do you think Mama and Papa would be out of there when I start school?" She asked.

"I don't want to make promises like that, but I sure hope so."

It was only a couple of years. He knew he had to get Ella's parents out of the prison, to get the rest of them out. He knew he didn't need those couple of years, but sometimes, things can be unpredictable. He didn't want to make a promise to her, something that he couldn't keep. He didn't want to see her face heartbroken, and make her think he was a liar, and made hollow promises. She deserved the world and everything that came with it.

"I have to be patient, don't I?" Ella asked.

Harrison sighed, "Of course you do. I hope I'll get them out of there, but it all depends if the Dark Lord will be brought back."

"I suppose it does," She said. She sat down on the bed, and hugged the stuffed dragon that was near the pillows. "I just hope it won't take long. I don't want to be away from them for a long time."

"I know," He told her. "Like I said, I'll try. Maybe it'll be this summer or in a couple of months. It just depends, but once Hogwarts gets done this year, I'm finding the Dark Lord. After that, we'll go from there."

"Okay."

…

Dinner with the Malfoys was rather pleasant. Sirius was there, sitting right next to Lucius, who looked rather tense sitting next to him. Narcissa kept her lips pursed as she took a small sip of her flute of champagne, as she was sandwiched between Ella and Lucius. Harrison sat next to Ella, who was currently picking at her food, eating in very small bites. It was rather quiet, save for the small chatter that he really didn't know what was going on, and didn't really have a say in it. Occasionally, there would be small bits of laughter that would come from Sirius. For the most part, it was rather quiet save for the conversations and the questions they would ask.

Harrison took a small nibble out of the salad that had a little bit of dressing on it. HIs plate was mainly eaten, besides the several pieces of food like corn, steamed carrots, and a small bowl of clam chowder that hadn't been touched yet. He noticed that Ella hadn't really bothered in touching the food on her plate. She was mainly looking down at her clear, glass plate, with a small smile seen on her face. She was holding her fork rather loosely, and would occasionally stab the fork into her food, but wouldn't bother trying to take a bite out of it. She was mainly just sitting, hunched over, and occasionally looking up.

It seemed that Narcissa noticed when she looked over right next to her. She had a small frown on her lips.

"Ella, you should probably eat more," Narcissa urged. "You barely touched your food."

"I'm not that hungry," She replied quietly.

"That's why there's a little bit on your plate, so your stomach can adjust," Narcissa told her in a small voice. "Why don't you eat a couple more bites?"

Ella shook her head no.

There was silence in the air before Sirius spoke up.

"How is she?" Sirius asked. "Ever since she got out of Azkaban?"

Harrison let his fork hang in mid-air, as he waited for the next response. He was curious about this one too. He knew it had only been two days since she was released, and the very apparent health issues that Azkaban brought its residents. He was curious if there were any long lingering effects, besides the health problems and how she was adjusting to living with the Malfoys. He knew having her own room, with normal things and not a life behind bars was just different, in general.

"Besides the effects that Azkaban would bring you?" Narcissa said, finally. "It's hard to say. There are moments where she has her ups and downs, like any other person. There's certainly work for us, but we're working with a mind healer and several other healers to help her make this smooth transition for all of us. Right now, we're working on her night terrors and getting her back up to being healthy, again."

"Is she having a harder time adjusting with you two than what she's used to?" Sirius inquired.

He picked up his glass filled with fire whiskey and took a small drink out of it. Narcissa was rather quiet, and looked at Ella, probably hoping that she would answer the question.

"It's fine. I miss my mama and papa," She admitted. "And of course, everyone else like Uncle Barty, Uncle Fenrir and Uncle Rabastan."

"Were you surrounded by all them?"

"Yeah, pretty much. We were in the same section together," Ella said, rather quietly. "Just enough that we were able to talk to each other, but never enough to hold one another."

Harrison thought he saw a tear forming in her eye, but it disappeared, once she blinked rapidly. Harrison scooted his chair over, and slung his arm around her. She leaned towards him, her curly hair touching his face. He rubbed circles on her arms, and hoped that it would be able to soothe her. He knew that by sharing this was one of the most difficult aspects, and was still incredibly raw. He glanced over at Sirius, and hoped that he would get the hint and stop asking fifty questions.

"Are you okay?" He whispered.

She nodded her head, and felt that she grabbed his robes. He sighed.

"Would you excuse us?" He said.

He pried Ella's hands away from his robes, and gently pushed her up to the point where he was easily able to get out of his seat. He pulled Ella from her seat and exited out of the dining room. He headed away from there, wanting to get Ella out of this stressful situation. He knew why she was like this, just right now, she wasn't used to this onslaught of questions or being surrounded by so many strangers. He simply headed to the one place where it could probably calm her down: her new room.

Ella let him guide her until he got her there, and opened the door to her room. She looked at him with silver eyes that were simply pleading with him. He sighed, closed the door and helped her sat on her bed, with him, sitting right next to her.

"Are you okay?" He asked again.

"A little bit," She whispered. "I just wasn't expecting the onslaught of fifty questions. It was too much for me…."

"I know," He whispered. "I kinda figured. Azkaban is sometimes the hardest thing to talk about, because they don't understand."

"Does it ever get easier?" Ella asked.

Harrison sighed, "I don't know. I wish I knew."

"How do you handle it?"

"I simply don't talk about it. It's something that I know they don't understand, and also considering my predicament, it's easier not talking about it. Besides, I have other things that I can focus on, but it's always there. Lingering."

"Oh," Ella asked. She straightened her back and met his eyes. "Do you have a hard time with it?"

"There are moments where it feels like I was back there. Some days, where I wake up screaming, tasting blood in my mouth. It's always a part of me, I just don't feed into it."

"I also have that. Sometimes, it just feels like you're stepping on glass around people. They're so worried about wanting to heal you and get over it, and it's nice, but there's really not much breathing room. It was my life for six-ish years."

"I'm glad you're here," She whispered.

"So am I," he told her. "Do you want to return back?"

Ella shook her head no.

"How about we stay here? I'll have the house elves bring us some food, and we just enjoy each other's company. Would you like that?"

"I'd like that," She replied rather quietly. "I missed you. Azkaban wasn't the same without you."

Harrison let out a small chuckle at that before he called out, "Libby!"

There was a loud pop into the room, and a house-elf appeared in the room.

"How may Libby assist you, mister Harrison?" The house elf asked.

"Can you get us a big bowl of mixed fruit, and two things of water?"

"Of course, mister Harrison."

It took a couple of minutes before the house-elf to reappear. By then, Ella had gotten comply and laid her head across his lap. He took the bowl of fruit and put it right between them, and ordered the house-elf to place the two glasses of water on the nightstand. He took a thing of green grapes, and ate a couple of them, tasting the sweet, tangy taste of them.

"Here," He handed her a couple of grapes and she took them without much hesitation.

He heard the sound of chewing from her, and she dived into the bowl of fresh fruit. She ate quite a bit of the green grapes, a little bit of melon, and blueberries. She ate quite a bit out of it, and seemed content in not eating anymore so Harrison finished it off. He handed her water and she took a drink out of that.

"Can you stay?" She asked. "I don't want you to leave."

"Of course I will, but only right after you go to bed," He told her. "As much as I want to stay longer. I have a train to catch tomorrow morning so I can finish out the term at Hogwarts."

"Okay," she said quietly. "What's Hogwarts like?"

"Hogwarts is a good school. There are several things that I dislike about, but the classes are probably something you'd enjoy. There's charms, transfiguration, potions, defense against the dark arts…."

They stayed like that for hours, just talking and enjoying each other's company. By then, the sun had disappeared beyond the hills, casting long shadows and darkness in its wake. Slowly, the rays of the sun disappeared until darkness remained. The room was quiet, and Harrison ran his fingers through her hair, getting the knots out as Ella laid there on his lap.

"Come in," He answered.

Narcissa opened the door and stood in the doorway. He could barely see the expression as half of it was concealed in the shadows.

"How is she doing?" She asked.

"She's doing better…. She probably got overwhelmed," He told her. He looked down at her, and noticed that her eyes were closed shut, and was sleeping peacefully. "I'm not sure how long she's been like this, but she's asleep."

"That's good," she replied. "She hasn't really had a decent night of sleeping ever since she got here. Me and Lucius would sometimes just take turns being with her, just in case."

"She's been through a lot," he told her.

"She has… Hasn't she?" she said, "Sirius left like an hour ago, and he was sorry for the way he acted. This was the first time he met his cousin's child, and was generally curious."

"Things happen," he told her. "Thank you for inviting us over. I think Ella enjoyed it, besides the dinner disaster."

"You're welcome," Narcissa gave him a small smile. "I think it would have done her good, since you two practically grew up with each other's company. It's nice to see a familiar face, considering that she just got out."

He nodded.

"I think it's best for me to get going before it gets too late. I do have a train to catch tomorrow morning," he told Narcissa.

"Of course… Tell Draco, we miss him and hope he'll write home more often."

"Will do."

Narcissa gave him a smile, as he looked down on his lap. He reached over behind him and grabbed a pillow to replace the feeling as he carefully nudged her head off of him. It took a little bit, but he managed to get Ella off of him. She opened her eyes a little bit in panic, but went back to sleep once her head hit the pillow, and grabbed the stuffed dragon that was nearby. He covered her with the blanket that Narcissa held up, and kissed her forehead before he headed out of the room, looking behind him before closing the door.

…

The train ride back to Hogwarts was rather uneventful. He spent the long train ride, organizing his memories and making sure everything was correct there. Once that was done, he moved onto reading the book that he picked out from the Black library, about blood curses and spells. It was rather interesting and it took most of the time as by the time he knew it, the sun already disappeared over the hills and the night sky replaced it. It didn't take long to get back to Hogwarts.

Once the train arrived at Hogwarts, he boarded a carriage and quickly headed to the Great Hall to have dinner, before heading back to the dorm. He shared some words to his fellow housemates, but otherwise kept to himself as he headed back down to the dormitory to put his things that needed to be out.

"Harrison!" a familiar voice called out. "I'm so glad I found you!"

Harrison looked behind his shoulder to see Draco standing behind him. He turned around to meet Draco's gaze to see what he wanted. It was most likely about something he missed during the two week break, or something else like Ella, for example.

"How's Ella? I assume that you seen her, but I'm not a hundred percent sure," he said.

"She's doing good. I went to see her yesterday," he told him. "She's free at least. Azkaban messed her up."

"I couldn't believe it when I saw that headline in the Daily Prophet, and my mother wrote to me about it," he explained. "I'm just glad he's out… It was a tragedy that she was there in the first place…"