Chapter 18
Barty led them through the room and into a luxurious hall and much like Voldemort had stated in their last visit the rest of the manor was done much in the slytherin style. Vast black marble floors with rich green rugs. Silver cracks within the marble. The tapestries were mostly of snakes or powerful figures in history. It felt almost empty though as their steps echoed. It lacked the warmth of Flint Manor. When they came into a large room set with a single table with room for six it seemed dwarfed by the room. But the most beautiful feature was the sky window that showed the stars above the table. It was dizzying to look at. Harry stared up at it wondering how they got the glass to almost enhance the flickering of the stars.
“I see you enjoy my dining hall.”
Harry jumped a bit and looked toward the voice flushing, “Yes, It’s beautiful.”
Voldemort gave no move to show emotion as he approached his black robes hugging his form. The scales still shone brightly against his pale skin but there seemed to be less than there was before. He seemed younger than before as well. The dark spots under his eyes gone and his eyes a little less red and almost a dark reddish brown. “This pleases me. Now, let us sit. Potter if you would join me here.” He tapped the seat to his right, “Heir Flint you may sit next to him.”
Harry stepped over and took the seat where he was asked to and Marcus sat next to him, “Thank you for the invite. I wasn’t expecting you to find the answers so soon.”
The man nodded, “I had a suspicion about the answers. I only needed time and a simple experiment to confirm my belief.” He clapped his hands and the first course appeared on their plate of soft cheeses and meats with crackers, “These are a variety of cheeses and cured meats. I chose some of the more exotic ones. If you do not like one, tell me. I wish to know what you think.”
Marcus twitched a little at the comment and wondered how much he would be punished if he decided to ask why the Dark Lord cared what Harry thought of the food.
Said teen cleared his throat, “I will be sure to, thank you.”
The man nodded, “Did you enjoy your date last night?”
Harry paused mid bite and looked at him, “How did you know about that?”
“I know a great many things. I would be a poor leader if I did not know the whereabouts of my followers.”
“Is that why you gave Marcus a new task?” He noticed Barty and Marcus both tense at the question.
The Dark Lord rose a brow and gave a slow smile, “Does it bother you? That I am giving him a new task?”
“I know it will happen, I only wish I knew what it was.”
“Ah, well if you must know, it is nothing that will get him killed. It is a bit of a personal matter you see. He will be retrieving something for me.” He stated.
Harry could almost feel the other two relaxing as the man seemed to not mind the questions, “Like what he brought from Hogwarts?”
The smile returned, “Not quite. I am afraid I have told you all I will reveal to you at the time. Do not push the matter further.”
The younger nodded and went back to the appetizer humming happily at one cheese that was almost gooey in consistency. It was sweet and tart at the same time.
Barty chuckled softly, “Now I know why half the Quidditch team kept hand feeding you things.”
Harry flushed, “They just do that because they enjoy making everyone talk and spread false rumors. I think the last rumor was I was courting Marcus while sleeping with half the Quidditch team.”
Marcus snorted, “They do it because they try to get a rise out of me. It won’t work.”
Voldemort raised a brow, “They feed you things?”
The youngest groaned, “It’s a joke. They think it is funny.”
Marcus grinned at him, “You secretly love it.”
A slow smile slid on his face, “It is kind of nice and I like that they enjoy doing it.”
Barty smiled glad the tension had been broken some, “They do seem to. Well it is all harmless fun. Here, try this one.” Then reached across the table with a cracker and cheese.
Harry gave him a playful glare then purposefully grabbed it with his fingers to try it, grinning at the pout the other now had, “Nice try.”
The Dark Lord watched them with a soft smile of amusement that he quickly hid behind his napkin as he pretended to clean his mouth. “As amusing as this is, it is hardly proper etiquette for the table.”
“Apologies My Lord.” Both Barty and Marcus spoke quickly.
Harry just grinned at him, “Sorry.”
“It is fine. Now onto the next course.” Another clap of the hands and the plates were replaced with bowls of fresh soup that was a deep green color, “It is a vegetable soup, often enjoyed in many Asian countries. It is a little spicy but I think you will enjoy it.”
Enjoy it he did, along with all the other courses, they were all small but by the time they were enjoying dessert he was pleasantly full and enjoying the soft conversation. Voldemort asked the occasional question but mostly listened to the other three talking about many different things. Even going over what Harry was learning now that he was in a home where he could practice magic during the Summer. Finally it was time for them to part ways.
“Potter if you would join me in my study. We shall leave these two to their own conversation.” He extended a hand towards the youngest.
Harry took the hand and stood, “Alright.” He kissed Marcus on the cheek, “I will be back soon.”
Marcus nodded then stood to bow to the Dark Lord and left with Barty.
Lord Voldemort watched them go before making a noise of interest and tugging Harry to the same room he had come to before to complete the ritual. They both went back to sitting in the same chairs with cups of tea and a warm crackling fire.
Harry took a small sip, “So what did you learn.”
The man sighed softly, “Always so quick to the point. You must understand that what I am about to discuss with you is a delicate matter and I will request an oath from you. To ensure your silence in the matter.”
“How do I take an oath?”
“You swear it upon your magic.”
Harry nodded and set his cup down and took out his wand, “I Harry James Potter, hereby swear upon my magic to uphold the secrets discussed tonight with Tom Marvalo Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort, until such time as the secret may be shared to others with permission from the speaker of the secret.” A rush of warmth swept through him and he winced a little at the pinch of pain in his wrist.
Voldemort nodded, “Well done. Now this secret requires a bit of history and explanation. It began when I was a young child, around your age actually. You see I was living through World War 2, the blitz. I often feared for my life. Here was this magic, this power and it couldn’t prevent me from dying from a dropped bomb. Despite my fears I was sent back to the orphanage every summer. I grew more and more frightened of death and being weak. So, I sought a way so that I would never die or have to fear being weak again.”
The man paused and stared into the fire before continuing, “I found the solution, Horcruxes. A way to split off a piece of your soul and place it into an object but in order to create one you had to kill without remorse.” he huffed, “Of course that was the only downfall the book explained about. I still find it odd that such a book was in the forbidden section in the library where children can read it but I thought it was the perfect solution. So, I killed my first victim. A girl who bullied me for being a muggleborn. I hated her. So I killed her and created my first Horcrux, my diary.”
Harry frowned, “The one I destroyed?”
“The very same. I felt it when you did. It was like a piece of me returning. You see it wasn’t until I regained that soul piece that I realized what I had done. When you rip a piece of your soul out it isn’t just a piece. It's half of what you have. So the Diary was my largest soul piece. The more I created the more the insanity and bloodlust took me until I was a mere shell of myself. By the time the war started I had already created five. I was not the man I began with, nor the man I am now. When I killed your parents I was so lost to the insanity that I accidentally created another.”
“I don’t understand.”
Voldemort looked at him, “You Harry. I placed a piece of my soul within your scar. That was why the spell backfired and I self-destructed. The bond had been forged and because I tried to kill you the spell rebound and shattered the last connection of the sliver of my soul with my body, making me into a wrath.”
Harry stared at him, letting the information process as his eyes slowly widened, “I have a piece of your soul in me? Is that why I am a parseltongue?”
“It could be yes. You must understand, it was an accident, my soul was so unstable that it latched onto the first viable stable source, your soul.” He took a deep breath, “I can’t remove it. I fear if I do it may hurt you even worse. Right now, from what I can tell, it doesn’t affect you beyond a few certain things. It doesn’t make you evil or give me the power to take over your body or control you.”
“The dreams.” Harry concluded.
“Yes. You have the ability it seems to see through my eyes. To feel my emotions when they are strongest. What else I do not know.”
He leaned back in the chair trying to not let it overwhelm him, “and you can’t remove it.”
“If I did, I could take a piece of your soul with it, or kill you by accident. It has been with you all this time. It doesn’t truly hurt you in any way.” He leaned forward, “You must understand something Harry. If Dumbledore were to ever find out what you are. He would kill you. Because you must die in order for me to die.”
“If he doesn’t know already.”
“That is one of my fears. You have already destroyed one of my Horcruxes and I have reabsorbed three more. Only you, Nagini, and the locket remain.”
“Is that why you appear younger?”
“Yes. the more pieces of my soul I reabsorb the closer to my true self I become. Unfortunately the scales and other snake attributes appear to be permanent. A side effect of the ritual we did to regain my body.”
Harry rubbed at the bridge of his nose. This put him in a very difficult position. Going neutral was now near impossible. Dumbledore was a man obsessed with Voldemort and he had a feeling the man wouldn’t give up till both of them were dead. “Alright, then I guess I am left with very little choice.”
“No, if you wish to remain neutral I will do everything within my power to keep you as such. I must ensure your safety not just for myself but because I have come to grow fond of you.”
He grinned at the dark wizard, “As wonderful as that is to hear, it won’t be enough. Joining you may be the only way to really ensure I am safe. I don’t know if I could ever torture or kill anyone but I will fight if it means I live and protect those I love.”
“My previous offer and conditions remain. I want you trained in all magic. Dark, Light, Neutral. All of them. I also have one more proposition for you.”
Harry frowned, “What?”
“I would like to call you mine. My son and heir.”
The cup shattered as it hit the floor and Harry stared at him with wide green eyes, “What but don’t you want a blood heir?”
The wizard chuckled darkly and waved his hand cleaning up the mess, “Did you forget the ritual? We share blood now. Your blood was used in this new body. Regardless of that I would have no other son.” He stood and stepped over to Harry and laid a hand on his shoulder, “Would you consider it? You said you wished for a family. I would give you this. I will be your family. Barty as well. All my death eaters could be your family.” He would make them if he had to.
Harry looked up at the man and stood his heart clenching at the words. Noone had ever really wanted him, only Sirius and the man barely even reached out to him unless something was wrong. The entire year he was in the tournament he did not receive a single letter. Here was a man offering him everything. A family, A home, protection. Something in him broke and he fell against the other wrapping his arms around the other face wet with tears as he gripped the cloth tightly. He wasn’t going to let this slip through his fingers, for once he was going to be selfish and take what he wanted.