The Proposition
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Harry Potter nor have I any claim to the series. Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling.
Harry wasn't sure why the headmaster wanted to see him so urgently. He was sure that there had to be something wrong for the man to call for him at this hour. During the heightened tension of the war, Harry was accustomed to Dumbledore calling for him. But for this meeting, the teenager had a very dark foreboding.
With a churning stomach he walked through the halls of Hogwarts towards the entrance of the headmaster's office.
"Plum Pudding.", Harry said to the gargoyle guarding the entrance.
It slid to the side and Harry entered the turning staircase that brought him up. He could hear two voices arguing loudly and the teenager frowned. He was more surprised at seeing both McGonagall and Snape swearing at the headmaster when Harry entered. The two stopped almost immediately at the sight of him. Harry frowned again. So it was about him.
"Ah, Harry. Thank you for coming so quickly.", the headmaster greeted him cheerfully.
Snape scowled deeply at the man while McGonagall snarled a swear word in such a thick scottish accent that Harry didn't understand it. From the face the headmaster made it was probably better that he didn't know what his head of house had said.
"Minerva, please. Would you be so kind to leave me alone with Harry and Severus?", Dumbledore asked pointedly.
The Transfiguration Professor scowled at the headmaster before she turned abruptly and left the office in a hurry that almost seemed fleeing. Harry had watched the altercation quietly. The headmaster turned his attention on him and unconsciously Harry straightened up.
What in Merlin's name was going on?
"Harry, I would like to ask you to watch a memory. We will discuss the content and the questions you have afterwards."
Dumbledore nodded towards the pensieve in the corner of the room. Harry turned and saw that a memory was already floating inside it. The teenager nodded and walked over to the stone basin. His stomach was turning. A bad feeling was creeping up his spine and he couldn't do anything against it. Harry could feel the eyes of both the headmaster and Snape on him the entire time. A slight sliver of sweat ran down the back of his neck. Without thinking further about the whole situation he put his head into the smokey liquid.
Harry found himself in the headmaster's office again. This time it was only Dumbledore present, sitting at his desk and watching the door. Harry turned around and waited, watching the unassuming wood. After a few minutes of waiting it opened. Harry gasped. Walking into the office was a man Harry knew.
Tom Riddle, supposedly in his mid-twenties, entered the room and sat down in the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. His eyes were still a deep red. But where there had been a monster with a snake-like face and slitted nostrils before sat now a handsome, fair-skinned, dark-haired man casually in front of the headmaster. An air of pure power and nonchalance accompanied him.
The teenager was trying to comprehend what that could mean when Voldemort - or Riddle now? - started to talk.
"Dumbledore, so nice of you to meet me."
Riddle's voice was deep and rich. Nothing like the high-pitched hiss from the Graveyard or the Ministry a few months before. It made Harry shiver.
"Tom, to what do I owe this visit?"
Dumbledore's voice was cold as ice. Harry had never heard him speak that way. It was uncanny the feeling this tone emitted inside him.
"Well, luckily for you I am not here to either kill you or anyone else. I do, on the other hand, have a proposition for you.", Riddle replied silkily.
Harry watched Dumbledore's face which betrayed no emotion. The teenager turned back to Riddle.
The man sat relaxed. His face was stoic, no emotion showing. Only his eyes shone with a determination and anticipation. What could the man want?
"What proposition would you have that makes you sure enough to believe I would agree to it?"
Riddle smirked. Even Harry could hear the curiosity in the headmaster's voice.
"I've come to offer you peace."
The dark wizard smirked when Dumbledore leaned forward upon hearing the words.
"Peace?", the headmaster asked carefully. "What could you want in exchange for the peace of the wizarding world?"
Riddle didn't stop smirking. He had hooked the headmaster. Even Harry knew that as the sheer hope colouring the headmaster's voice was unmistakeable.
"I have a few demands but in exchange I would guarantee peace for both muggles and wixen as a whole. No matter the blood.", Riddle answered calmly.
Harry was curious as well now. What could Voldemort - Riddle? - want in exchange? Didn't he have already what he wanted?
"What are your demands?"
Riddle's smirk widened into an attractive grin. Attractive?
"I want to be pardoned for any misdeeds I did in the first war. No Azkaban, no trial and no punishment. I will continue to live as Tom Marvolo Riddle, Slytherin's heir, and be able to get a place in the Wizengamot. I will propose bills and laws and they will be fairly voted on."
Harry gaped. That was quite a lot. There was no way that Dumbledore would agree to that.
It seemed Harry didn't know the headmaster as well as he thought.
"You want something else.", the man noted calmly. But the man didn't seem to disagree with Riddle.
Riddle grinned again.
"I want to wed Harry James Potter, two days after his seventeenth birthday. I shall not harm or kill him. He will live with me as my equal. Of course he would be allowed to finish his education at Hogwarts."
Dumbledore mustered Riddle while Harry felt as if the ground had vanished beneath his feet. Voldemort wanted him as his husband? Why?
"And if those two demands are met, you're willing to swear an Unbreakable Vow to both leave the wixen and muggle world in peace?"
Harry swallowed down bile. The headmaste wasn't seriously considering selling him to Tom Riddle for the peace of the world?
"Yes." Such a simple statement. "I would swear the Unbreakable Vow, worded by none other than yourself.", Riddle confirmed.
The two men stared at each other.
The headmaster contemplated Riddle while said man just waited for a response. The tension was high. Harry wasn't sure what would happen if Dumbledore refused.
"I will have to talk to Cornelius and Harry. I shall send an owl as soon as the decision is made.", Dumbledore finally said.
Riddle nodded, stood and left the room swiftly without another word.
The memory was finished and Harry emerged from the pensieve. He stumbled backwards and fell on his ass. The turmoil inside his head was mounting. The shelves rattled ominously but the sharp pain in his tailbone brought him back enought to reign in his magic.
Frantically the teenager looked around and found both Snape and Dumbledore watching him.
"The conversation that you just watched happened five days prior. Sit, Harry."
Feeling wrong-footed and with a churning stomach, Harry clambered to unsteady feet and collapsed into the same chair Riddle sat in before.
Snape moved to Harry's right side. A glance towards the potions master told him that the man was tense. Surprisingly none of his apparent anger was directed at Harry himself.
"Harry.", Dumbledore called and the teenager looked forwards into blue eyes. He couldn't read the emotion behind those eyes, though. The headmaster showed him the same stoic face he had worn when Riddle had sat in his office.
"On this morning Cornelius Fudge made the decision to reward Tom Marvolo Riddle, alias Lord Voldemort, with a full pardon for his crimes and a seat in the Wizengamot."
Harry drew in a deep breath. He knew what that meant. He was going to be sold as a peace offering to Riddle. A numbness spread from his toes through his whole body. Bile rose in his throat.
"I am going to ask you a question. And I hope you will give me the right answer. Are you willing to bring peace to the world by offering yourself to Tom Riddle as the man's husband?"
Why is he even asking? It's going to be expected of me anyway.
Harry kept silent. The headmaster was asking a question he wanted only one answer to.
Snape on the other hand had a lot to say.
"Headmaster, are you seriously willing to sell Potter to the Dark Lord? What about the wedding night? You know as well as I do that the marriage has to be consummated. You are willing to let the Drak Lord rape the boy?" The potions master was growling the last sentence.
Harry felt himself go pale. He hadn't thought about the after.
Why is the headmaster so cruel? Why is Snape the only one defending him? Dumbledore would know that he couldn't refuse the offer of peace. He would know that Harry was willing to sacrifice himself.
"Severus, Tom had already proclaimed that he would not hurt Harry.", Dumbledore argued weakly.
"Are you dense enough to believe that?", Snape shot back. The man was almost yelling now. And if Harry understood it correctly, the dour man was concerned for him and his safety.
"I am not dense, Severus. I know that Tom is not a good man but we need to make sacrifices for the peace of the world."
You mean I need to sacrifice my freedom for the sake of the wizarding world that never protected me when I needed them most. Harry thought bitterly. Harry would be the only sacrifice.
The potions master growled and began pacing behind Harry. The teenager was touched. The teacher who hated him most was defending him. At least one person was thinking about the consequences for Harry.
And still... Harry would not be able to say no.
"I know it is not the best situation and I am sure you will need time to come to terms with it. But, Harry, I need an answer.", Dumbledore pressed.
The headmaster had decided to ignore Snape now. Harry looked at the old man.
A certain shimmer of fear danced behind the blue eyes watching him intently. Was the man afraid of Harry saying no or was he afraid of the things he needed to do to convince Harry further?
"If I refuse, the alternative will be war, am I correct?", Harry asked quietly.
"Yes."
Harry closed his eyes tightly. One word decided his fate and freedom. He couldn't let his friends fight a war he was able to prevent. Even at the sake of his own happiness. Maybe Riddle would kill him quickly after marrying him. He wouldn't suffer long in that case.
"Okay, I'll do it. On the condition that Snape visits regularly.", Harry said determined.
Both heads snapped towards him.
"Why?", Dumbledore asked.
"Because first of all, in Riddle's eyes, Snape is a Death Eater. He is possibly the only person to report the truth about my condition. Secondly he is currently more concerned about my safety than you. No offense, sir." The headmaster just waved his hand in dismissal of the last statement. "And lastly, Riddle thinks Snape hates me. He would find no problem with him visiting me.", Harry explained.
Snape snorted loudly.
"I must admit. Potter made good points."
Dumbledore sighed before nodding.
"Very well. I will send Tom an owl. Severus, please escort Harry to his dorm."
Both men nodded to Harry and without further platitudes Harry stood and walked out of the headmaster's office, Snape following silently.
The silence held for the whole walk back to Harry's common room. It wasn't uncomfortable per se but not downright light either.
Just before they turned the corner into the corridor of the Fat Lady's protrait Snape stopped.
Harry turned to face the man.
"Mr. Potter, I am grateful for your sacrifice. I will take my assigned role serious. Have a good night."
Before Harry could respond, the man turned on his heel and vanished into the darkness of the halls.
The teenager made his way to the portrait.
It was time to tell his friends about his fate.