Wolf Like Me, Lera Lynn + Shovels & Rope (Or TV on The Radio)
Say, say, my playmate
Won't you lay hands on me
Mirror my malady
Transfer my tragedy?
Got a curse I cannot lift
Shines when the sunset shifts
When the moon is round and full
Gotta bust that box, gotta gut that fish
My mind has changed
My body's frame
But god, I like it
My heart's aflame
My body's strained
But god I like it
I know it's strange
Another way
To get to know you
You'll never know
Unless we go
So let me show you
Harry Potter: Death Eater
On the evening of the 24 of September
During the first annual Skulmadras Festival,
(Hosted by the undefeated vampiric High Qovaris,
EnosStækarsson) Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived
Announced his support of the Dark Lord Voldemort
In a dramatic display of power. Some posit that this is
The result of some trickery, while more still are calling
It the death knell of those who would deny progress.
Harry Potter Was later joined by Ginevra Weasley at the
festival (Pictured page 9) though the young
Death Eater was accused and acquitted of the
Murder of her brother, Ronald Weasley—
He exhaled sharply and flipped to page nine to find a moving image of himself, smiling, being pulled along by Cassiopeia, dragging a bug-eyed Ginny beside him, steam rolling off him in black and white. To him, the most jarring part of the picture was how happy he looked. Genuinely grinning at the vampire, a laugh caught on a loop.
He'd stewed in his room until nightfall, when the Slytherins and Ginny grouped outside his door, waiting to be seen on the map. He sighed and pulled himself out of bed. They all entered as he opened the door, Pansy talking simultaneously with Ginny and Avalon until they stopped altogether.
"…Harry," Ginny finally said, "We—I wanted to ask if you'd come with us to the hall. The new students will be sorted tonight, and Avalon wants to —and I want you there."
He didn't hesitate long; he knew why she was asking. She was frightened of facing the school, having suffered through her own reveal. She chewed her thumb while she waited for him to answer and visibly relaxed when he scooped his outer robe off the floor, shaking it and making Tom roll his eyes.
"Let's go then," Harry said, falling into step next to Draco and avoiding Eris' sharp eyes at all costs for fear of manslaughter.
There were more students in the halls than there had been through the day, all of them sneering at him and at Ginny, whispering, wide-eyed, pointing and gasping, apart from the Slytherins, who seemed to be regarding him with intrigued awe, some of them attempting to get his attention as they walked; calling his name as though he knew them personally.
He and the youngest Weasley moved with their eyes straight ahead, Ginny's considerably wider as she clutched his arm, earning another stiff glare from Eris. Adrenaline jumped in his stomach as Tom was struck with the urge to strangle the necromancer.
"We must place bets on what houses they go to. I say Reed is a Slytherin, no doubt. Her family? The Harlow's have supported many a dark uprising. And Ironwood," Avalon said, gesturing wildly, "Ruby… Hufflepuff? Do you think, Ginny?"
"Er, maybe," the redhead was quiet.
"Pollux is a Ravenclaw!" Pansy exclaimed, walking backwards.
"Mm, I think he is a Slytherin, too. Eris?" Avalon asked.
"I don't care," he grumbled.
They stumbled right into their topic of discussion as they moved from the grand staircase through the entrance hall. Pollux, Ruby, and Reed stood with Cassiopeia and a man and woman he didn't recognise, both with sunken cheeks and pallid features. The strangers looked as though their robes were swimming on their frames. The woman's hair was nearly grey, with streaks of black in her severe bun. The man had nearly none remaining, just a wisp of white in the centre of his head, his sparse goatee near his belly button. Reed was hanging onto his arm and beaming at him like she was a sunflower and he was the sun.
Her head was no longer shaved; a long, strawberry-blonde plait hung down past her knees. Her robes looked new, lacking their house colours, a wand gripped in her dragon-hided hand. Pollux and Ruby stood on either side of the pained-looking woman, Ruby's eyes huge as she stared up at the ceiling; Pollux rapidly engaged with his amber object, fingers blurred with speed.
"There he is, mum, look! See! I said Harry Potter goes here, and he's a Death Eater now!" Ruby's voice was too loud in the semi-occupied entrance hall, earning muttering from the students and attention from the Dark Lord's followers who stood at every door.
Cassiopeia gestured for them to join. Avalon was the first to move and introduce herself. Pansy, Draco, Ginny, Harry, and then Eris followed.
"This is our mum. Eugenia. She's going to stay in the castle and teach when she's ready, right, mum? Mum?" Ruby said, then, "She's still kinda…"
Eugenia stared at him, eyes empty, face perpetually locked in a scowl.
"…This is my uncle, Talpin Harlow," Reed smiled as she introduced him. He seemed far more aware than Eugenia, watching Harry and Cassiopeia suspiciously.
"Good to meet you, then, Harry Potter," he said, talking fast, his voice surprisingly high-pitched. "This security, is it constant?" he asked Cassiopeia.
"It's situational, but for the foreseeable future, yes," Cassiopeia looked at Reed.
"And you understand what has happened?" He asked.
"I was told, yes. You would be welcome to stay, but I hear…"
"I have things to attend to. She will be safe here?" He looked down at Reed, eyes softer.
"Safer than she would be most anywhere else, I will see to it," Cassiopeia said, "It looks as though she's made friends with another of our most valuable students, so she'll be watched after. If she sticks with him," the last part was directed at Harry, more of an order, which he sighed at, but gave her a nod.
He didn't understand what they were discussing, but he gathered that it had something to do with her father.
An awkward silence fell before Cassiopeia abruptly asked Ginny to talk. Harry raised his eyebrows as the two of them went through the doors that led back to the staircase. His raised brows became a frown that he could feel Eris sharing, and he was hit with another nearly overpowering urge to hit him.
'First opportunity,' Tom assured him in his head, 'He will pay for it.'
Harry didn't respond and sighed heavily instead. He didn't want to acknowledge the way he wanted to hurt Eris, but he didn't move to deny it either.
The necromancer and the vampire returned, Ginny pale and wide-eyed, taking his arm immediately and staring at the stones. He looked at Cassiopeia; she gave him a shrug and a sad smile before she said:
"Talk?"
And Harry said, "No?"
She ignored him and pulled him away from Ginny through the same doors she'd re-entered through. She silenced them and grimaced, showing her fangs.
"You know what they say, Harry, no good deed goes unpunished."
"They do not say that," Tom said.
"Last night, when you mentioned Skeeter and her ghosts," she began, and Harry clocked it.
"No. That's not happening. I'm not doing an interview with her. Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia. It is not necessary," Tom took over his sentence halfway through.
"Well…" She shrugged, her eyes averted as she pursed her lips, "It's on the list. For Tuesday."
"He's such a twat!" Harry snapped, storming back into the entrance hall, the vampire following. She didn't stop talking as she walked past the group:
"I've got nearly twenty to sort tonight, so I'm heading in. Take your time," Cassiopeia said to Reed before she opened the Great Hall doors to release the muttering of the students already inside. Ruby pulled her mother to the hall and Pollux trailed after them, Harry, Ginny, and the rest not far behind, leaving Reed with her uncle.
The Slytherins immediately reacted to Harry, barking and whooping as they thundered their fists on the table, shaking the plates and cutlery until they were all standing, applauding, and cheering. The only ones still seated were Zabini, Goyle, Crabbe, and the Greengrass sisters. He looked over at the Gryffindor table, Tom keeping his chin up, not private with his satisfaction at the reaction of the serpent house.
Hermione's glare was lethal, but he held her eyes until she looked away, talking sharply to Lavender, who nodded and watched Harry with open disgust, squirming in her seat. He sat down at the Slytherin table, facing away from them, Ginny beside him, slapped on the back by strangers. Draco was already sitting across from them with Pansy, joined by Avalon. Eris sat on the other side of the youngest Weasley. Harry ground his teeth as he loaded a plate with mashed potatoes, mostly decoration. Cassiopeia shushed the slowly dying mayhem at the Slytherin table and began to sort the new students that were standing at the head of the hall.
Ruby had sat her mother down at the staff table and joined her nonplussed brother, bouncing on her heels and staring at the hat. Reed and Talpin entered, and he took to the back of the hall by the Death Eaters standing guard. She jogged to join the twins, shaking Ruby's arm and grinning.
'What are your bets on their houses?' Harry wondered because he knew Tom had analysed them.
'Yours first.'
'All Slytherin.'
'You are not observant. I would win if we were betting.'
"Draco, what are your guesses on their houses? Pansy?" Harry asked, and they looked at the three newcomers.
"I think Harlow will be Slytherin. Maybe all three?" Draco glanced at Parkinson as Avalon whispered in his ear.
"I reckon Ruby will be Hufflepuff. No doubt," Pansy said, biting a boiled carrot.
'Harlow is a Hufflepuff, Pollux a Ravenclaw, Ruby… Gryffindor,' Tom thought.
'Why did you pause like that for Gryffindor?'
'Gryffindor is for idiots.'
Harry scoffed and then frowned, shrugging when everyone looked at him.
"Go on, what are your guesses then?" Pansy asked.
"Oh, er… Ruby in Gryffindor, Pollux in Ravenclaw, Reed in Hufflepuff," Harry said.
'Incredible. You are so intuitive,' Tom thought.
Reed was sorted first of the three, and before the hat touched her head, it shouted Hufflepuff. Talpin whooped and clapped louder than her house's polite applause. She didn't join her table, instead returning to her friends, still waiting.
"What, no way," Pansy said while Draco and Avalon agreed.
There were a few students between Reed and Pollux. When it was his turn, the hat sat on his head for a solid twenty-five minutes. He paid no attention to it, spinning the glowing object and bouncing a leg on the stool.
"…Ravenclaw!"
He stood up and took the hat off as his robes acquired their blue, returning to his sister and his friend as though nothing was new.
"Piss off, how have you guessed two?" Draco said, gesturing at the crowd at the front of the hall. Harry shrugged.
Ruby was directly after her brother, and he was not shocked to hear it shout Gryffindor as it made contact. She seemed crestfallen, though, and burst into tears.
"How did you do that?" Pansy asked.
Ruby, Pollux, and Reed weren't heading for their respective tables. Instead, they aimed for Slytherin, squeezing in on the opposite side with Avalon, Draco, and Pansy, met with confused muttering from their houses.
"Why would I be Gryffindor? I'm like a Hufflepuff, right? Or a Ravenclaw? Even?" Ruby sniffled through her words while Reed rubbed her back.
"I don't know, what's the difference?" Reed asked, and Pollux smacked his device on the table, snapping his head to look at her.
"Hufflepuffs are patient, loyal, hard-working, and have a strong sense of justice. Gryffindor's are courageous and daring," he told her in a monotone.
'And stupid,' Tom supplied.
'Thanks, Slytherin is for gits,' Harry thought, though he smiled.
"Let me guess: Ravenclaw knows everything. When did you look this up this morning?" Reed asked.
"Yes."
Reed's uncle appeared behind her, and she got up to meet him, standing off to the side as they said their goodbyes. Ruby's eyes trailed to her mother at the staff table, though the woman stared straight ahead. Cassiopeia sat next to the healer, Lydia, and they were locked in animated conversation. He wondered where Vanya was and whether she'd been brought to the castle. Snape was missing.
He didn't turn around, though he could feel the hall's eyes on him, all but Slytherin drilling angry holes into his head from all angles. Ginny had been silent, so he gave her a gentle nudge. She startled, looked at him, and grimaced before she revealed a stack of letters under the table.
"Oh," he said, and she pursed her lips together.
Harry and Ginny left the hall together, removing Eris like a grumpy parasite, seemingly wanting to fight with them about her leaving in front of everyone, making Harry imagine body-slamming him in the Great Hall.
They'd walked silently to the Room of Requirement, but she was talking as soon as the doors closed.
"Last night? Was it okay?" She asked, referring to the dinner.
He shrugged, "I didn't die. Cassiopeia said it went well. Voldemort insulted me the whole time but stayed in his seat."
"This is crazy…" She said, holding her stack of letters in one hand, gnawing her thumb, still standing.
Harry sat down and agreed, frowning. She followed him, still not looking at the envelopes in her hands.
"…At least there's no howlers," she said, following his eyes.
"…Yeah."
"I don't really want to read them. Is that crazy? I just… Wanna pretend."
"No. I get it."
She frowned at the small stack in her hand and didn't move. His mind immediately wandered.
"Before you read them, I wanna- I want to check something," he said, his thoughts on Rita Skeeter and the dinner, whether there would be further consequences.
Tom pulled the thread to enter the Dark Lord's head, where they caught a glimpse of Nagini in the Malfoy sitting room before a painful snap broke the connection and startled him out of his seat.
"What is it? What did you see?" Ginny asked, frowning.
"Er," he said, slowly sitting back down.
'Did he just catch us in there?' Harry thought, alarm flooding him in waves.
'Yes,' Tom seemed as concerned as he did, standing him up again.
"I think he caught me," he said, shooting her a look.
"What? In his head? Harry… That's not- what will he do?"
"I don't know. I don't know, last night I mentioned Rita Skeeter, so I've got an interview with her on Tuesday. He found out about… and he nearly-"
"Are you sure he caught you? Maybe- wait, Skeeter? Oh, that's-"
He cut her off with a gasp as the Dark Mark burned, and his stomach fell out onto the floor.
"Harry?" She stood up, too, her letters abandoned on the coffee table. She looked at his arm with wide eyes.
"Find Cassiopeia, okay? Tell her I fucked up. Again. I don't have time to-" he threw his robes back on, interrupting himself.
'Tom, what do we do?' He thought as he and Ginny exited the room.
'We go,' he responded, sounding numb.
He said nothing to Ginny as they separated, squeezing her hand. She sprinted away in search of Cassiopeia, and he jogged for the ward's edge.
He reached the outside sooner than he would have liked, anxiety rushing through him. The moon was full, giving him a clear view of the Death Eaters that watched his every move as he Disapparated. He was pulled through the straw and found himself at the little house with the swirling green wards.
His head was swimming with his pulse as he crossed the sloping lawn to the rounded front door, holding his breath and trying to steady his limbs. He realised he was slowly turning the handle, and Tom forced the door open.
"Attempt to enter my mind again, and I will see you lobotomised. These women be damned," Voldemort said as he entered before he'd looked up.
Harry kept his wide eyes to the floor and braced for impact, but none came. Tom risked a glimpse. The Dark Lord's eyes were red, ringed, and sunken, glaring at him, nostrils flaring, his cheeks drawn. He looked as though he hadn't slept or eaten since attempting a murder-suicide. Possibly longer. A stack of paperwork sat in front of him, no Nagini.
"Forgive me, my Lord," Tom muttered.
Voldemort exhaled a humourless laugh, "Do not patronise me."
Harry begged the other shoe to drop, standing in the doorway with his head bowed and his heart the size of a football suffocating him.
"Sit down," he gestured at the floor on his right, and Harry looked up to meet his eyes.
Instantly, his skin flushed, his ears were red, and his pulse beat low as he hesitated and cursed his thoughts.
"Do not make me repeat myself."
He moved—legs stiff like Jello, to sit on the floor beside the Dark Lord, wobbling.
"Hand. Here," Voldemort pointed to the arm of his chair, and he did as he was told, gripping the wood with a sweaty palm, heart losing its rhythm and making up the beat.
The Dark Lord removed his gloves, giving Harry more palpitations. Voldemort paused for a fraction of a moment before placing two fingers on Harry's hand. There were five long seconds in which he held his breath before a warmth spread from his hand to his chest to his head—which he dropped to his knees. Fear, tension, and hate deflated, escaping like a punctured balloon. He kept his mouth pressed against his legs and squeezed his eyes shut.
There was a moment of quiet before the rapid scribbling of a quill broke it.
Tom was silent in his head, but Harry could feel him, calm, barely conscious. Comfortable. The door exploded inwards, not startling him because probably nothing could. He looked up, bleary-eyed, to find Cassiopeia yelling in the doorway.
"Tom Riddle, I swear to fucking god—oh. Ohhh! Great! Amazing! What a good idea you've had. You guys get some work done! Ha! Okay! Don't mind me," she backed out of the room, grinning as she replaced the broken door at an angle.
"She's funny," Harry muttered before he fell asleep with his face on his knees.
(AN: Listen, if you have songs that have made you go 'oh, that'd fit,' but you haven't seen me put them in here, give them to me, and I'll put the gun down. Nice and easy, okay?)