batsutousai | FIC: Reclaim ~ 11 ~ R ~ Tom(Voldemort)/Harry

Title: Reclaim
Author:

magickmaker17
Pairings: Harry/Tom(Voldemort), Salazar/Godric, Rowena/Helga, Sirius/Remus, Gin/Ted, Herm/???
Warnings: This will have graphic slash, not-so-graphic femslash, and not-so-graphic het, war, Ron torture
Summary: Sequel to Abandon!
In love with the man he’s expected to kill and member of the esteemed Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter must fight in a war in which he is divided. Can he lead his world to peace?
Disclaim Her: Oops. I brought in another OC. *laughs nervously* I'm sorry.

Key:
Mind-speak
:Parseltongue:
’Written thoughts’
°°Phoenix speech°°

-

Chapter 11

-

"Harry."

Harry glanced up from his desk - he was starting to get sick of his office, honestly - at where Remus stood, looking pale and a little angry. "Remus, what's wrong?"

"What, in the name of all that is holy, is Fenrir Greyback doing in the kitchen?" Remus asked with quiet fury.

Harry frowned and stood. "I don't know. He was supposed to stay in the receiving room..."

"Why is he in the manor?" Remus demanded.

Harry gave Remus a curious look. "He has a meeting with Tom. Is something wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong," Remus replied tightly, his expression shuttered.

"You have bad history," Harry decided, walking around his desk to his godfather. "I see. Would you like to come with me to drag him back to the receiving room, or would you like me to handle this without you?"

Remus shrugged, obviously uncomfortable with Harry's flippant way of handling Greyback. "You know he's a werewolf, right?"

Harry smiled faintly, though his eyes shone with concern. "Yes."

Remus sighed. "I'll come with you."

Harry's smile faded. "Remus, I don't want you forcing yourself to do something that obviously makes you uncomfortable. I know we've been over this before."

Amber eyes hardened and Remus shook his head. "It's my duty, both as a Junior and as your godfather, to see that you remain unharmed. I'm coming with you."

Harry rolled his eyes, but led the way from his office without an argument. He'd attempted to face down Remus' sense of duty during one stay with the man after Sirius had fallen through the Veil; it hadn't been easy, and he didn't fancy trying when Remus saw this as his duty on two accounts. Some things, Harry had learned, were not worth starting a war about.

"Ooh, fresh meat," the werewolf at the table murmured without looking up as Harry and Remus stepped into the kitchen.

Harry looked around the kitchen, silently motioning Remus to remain silent unless he said otherwise. Shredded meat was strewn about the table and the floor. Although the kitchen was the domain of the Slytherin family house-elves, only Slinky remained, and the Head Elf looked terrified. For the first time since coming to Slytherin Manor, Harry knew what Tom had meant when he said that the elves didn't like it when his Death Eaters were around.

Harry pulled out his wand and cast a spell that vanished all the meat from the table and the floor then narrowed his eyes at Greyback, who had tensed. "You were given strict orders to stay in the receiving room, were you not, Fenrir Greyback?"

Greyback spun on his chair snarling. "You dare order me around, human?"

Harry held up a hand to stop Remus, who had tensed behind him. "You will curb your temper or you will find yourself without an alliance with us. Do not push me, Mr Greyback, I've recently found some nasty hexes that I've been wanting to try out."

Greyback let out a growl, but backed down. "Who are you?"

Harry smirked – growing his hair out to cover his scar and adding a foot to his height had done wonders for his anonymity, it seemed. "Harry Potter," he stated coolly, brushing his hair out of the way to show his scar. "You will return to the receiving room now, or I will hex you bloody, then kick you out. Clear?"

"Crystal," Greyback growled, baring his teeth.

Harry stepped to the side and motioned to the doorway behind him, where Remus was holding the door open. "Then move."

Greyback slunk past Harry and out the door, but stopped when he saw Remus. "Remus," he nearly purred. "Imagine meeting you he–"

A wand digging into the back of the werewolf's neck silenced him. "You're not moving," Harry hissed coldly.

Greyback started moving again. "I find it intriguing that, even though he, too, is a werewolf, Remus is not being treated like some monster."

"Remus is a trusted member of the Dark Order and received his Mark last year," Harry reported in a chilly voice. "You, Mr Greyback, do not even have an alliance with us yet. Until I am assured that you will do no harm to anyone bearing our Mark or those who we call allies that don't, you will be treated as an uncontrollable and possibly dangerous animal. You'll find that I am slow to trust those I'm assured are friends these days, and even slower to trust those who others deem foes. Until Remus feels secure in your presence, you will be treated as a monster." Harry waved his hand and the door to the receiving room opened. "In."

Voldemort and Lucius both stood when Harry followed Fenrir in. :What happened?:

:Remus came to me in my office. Greyback was in the kitchen – without a guard – leaving a mess and terrifying Slinky,: Harry explained calmly. :Also, he and Remus appear to have some poor history.:

The Dark Lord nodded, then looked over at the new werewolf, who was glaring at Harry and Remus, who stood behind his godson protectively. "Harry tells me you have been roaming the manor without a guard," he murmured.

"I was hungry," Greyback replied without taking his eyes from Harry, who was ignoring him in favour of giving Remus an amused look.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "Crucio."

Harry rolled his eyes at his lover's way of getting his point through to his underlings. :Remus and I are going to go find Sirius. Try not to Crucio him too much; we need this alliance.:

The Dark Lord ended the curse, then glanced over at Harry. :I know that, imp. Go on.:

"Come on, Remus." Harry took his godfather's hand and led the other from the room. He stopped outside the door long enough to lock it and put up warding that he knew only Tom could break; then he led Remus through the manor to where he knew Sirius would most likely be this time of day – the duelling rooms.

-~/\~-

Tom found his lover and the young man's two godfathers in the kitchen, talking over a cup of tea. He sat down in the free seat next to Harry, then took the cup Slinky held out to him. "You're well?" he asked of his elf.

Slinky smiled. "Slinky is fine, Master. Master worries too much."

"I'm allowed to worry when I've got uncontrollable, smart-arse werewolves running around," Tom grumbled, blowing on his tea.

Harry smiled. "Did you agree on an alliance, at any rate?"

Tom sighed. "Yes. It was bloody difficult, but we finally found a contract we could all agree on. The werewolves are our allies."

"And Fenrir?" Remus asked tightly.

"He went home mighty sore," the Dark Lord assured him. "I believe he learned that pissing me off is not a good idea – nor is threatening any in my home or ignoring a direct order. I believe I also made it clear to him – if Harry hadn't accomplished that before – that Mr Potter is not to be messed with and both you and Black are under his protection."

"What did you say to him?" Harry asked, incredulous. Leave it to Tom to threaten the heart and soul out of a possible ally and still get the alliance.

"Crucio'd him a few times, used a couple other hexes, found out exactly what happened in the kitchen, hexed him some more, informed him that you liked looking up curses that worked best on werewolves, informed him that you and your godfathers were off-limits if he didn't want to become your new test subject, hexed him a few more times, then we actually got down to business." Tom shrugged.

Harry's head hit the table-top with a 'thunk'.

"If Lucius hadn't been there, I doubt we would have moved on, actually..."

'Thunk. Thunk. Thun–'

"Stop that." Tom cradled Harry against his chest with a frown. "That's a good way to get a headache."

Harry rolled his eyes and glanced over at Slinky. "How do you put up with him, Slinky?"

"Hey!"

A faint smile touched Slinky's lips. "Slinky doesn't know what Master Harry is talking about."

"Revolt!" Tom declared, banging his hand on the table. "Harry's making my house-elves revolt!"

Remus hid a smile while Sirius howled with laughter. Slinky and the other house-elves in the kitchen – most of whom were busy preparing for dinner – covered smiles or turned away from the table and coughed to cover laughter.

Harry grinned and kissed the corner of Tom's mouth. "Stop that, you silly bastard. Your house-elves don't want to revolt, they like you too much."

Tom glared at Harry playfully. "I knew you were plotting against me, you imp."

Harry laughed, then pulled his lover into a firm kiss. When Tom deepened said kiss, Sirius called, "Get a room!"

Tom looked up at the animagus with an annoyed look. "I happen to know a good spell that will turn you into a cat, Black."

"Anything but that!" Sirius cried in mock panic, then flung himself at Remus, who was laughing at their antics. "Moony! Save me! He's going to take away my dignity!"

"If you really think that's your dignity, Sirius, I've got a spell I need a scapegoat for..." Harry offered airily.

Sirius stared at Harry in shock for a long moment, then turned to Remus with a horrified look. "Remus, our godson's been corrupted." He let out a very fake-sounding sob. "James will never forgive me!"

Everyone in the kitchen burst out into helpless laughter, even the house-elves.

-~/\~-

They planned the attack for right after the DA meeting. Harry's troops were hidden in the underbrush and in the shadow of one large tree that stood just outside the gates of Hogwarts. Harry's delving into Tom's book on the Shadow Arts had proven invaluable when it came to the guerrilla tactics that the Death Eaters were well known for.

Harry, himself, was inside the castle grounds, watching for the group of people who would be coming from the castle. He was getting worried about his people inside Hogwarts – he hadn't heard from Gin since the DA meeting he and Tom had attended three weeks previous. He knew that, if anything was wrong, Minerva would get word to him through Fawkes – and if Fawkes caught on to the disturbance first, the phoenix would have come to him as soon as he could get away from Albus.

Unless he couldn't get away from Albus....

Harry, love, you need to stop worrying about this. I'm certain everything is fine, Tom's voice soothed Harry's nerves.

If we don't hear from them by next Saturday, I'm going to the DA and doing a bit of undercover work.

I won't stop you, Tom promised.

Ha! Here they come! Harry dashed back across the clear field, a single shadow in an expanse of light. He felt, rather than saw, his troops squaring their shoulders and preparing for their raid. Why not attack those who believe themselves superior because they were just re-taught how to cast a proper Accio? Why not test how effective this club was – see how quickly they'd have to end this war.

And, even better, the Order would be side-tracked with a meeting.

Harry stood still as a statue against the shadow of the gate as the happy crowd flooded past him. He smiled when he saw neither Order members nor his own within the crowd – so the Juniors had paid attention to his warning – and dropped his robe-like shadow covering, still not moving.

It was a small child who first realised he was there – she couldn't have been more than eight – and she started tugging on the arm of her parent, staring towards where Harry stood. "Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. Dad–"

"Stupefy." Harry stepped out into the light with a cold smirk as the child dropped. "I wonder if Miss Granger and her cohorts are teaching you all properly without me," he offered to the shocked parent of the child and the surrounding members of the crowd, all of whom had stopped to stare in disbelief.

"Attack!" one of the quicker members of those who had seen him shouted. "It's Potter!"

Harry's smirk widened as he found multiple wands suddenly pointed at him. "You're all too slow," he informed them matter-of-factly before fading into a shadow as lights flashed and Death Eaters seemed to pour out of thin air. Only then did the crowd realise that they'd been trapped and feared for their lives.

Harry, using his grasp of Shadow Arts, slipped through the crowds to where the child he'd stunned had been forgotten by her panicking father. Harry picked the small girl up and slipped back into the shadow of the gate – the girl wrapped up in both his arms and his protecting shadow – before levitating himself up to the top of one of the pillars that sat on either side of the iron gate. From his vantage point, Harry watched over the battle seriously, watching for any danger to his people. They'd been ordered to not to kill unless their own life was in danger, and Harry was glad to see that they were all listening to his orders.

Trusting Tom's well-trained people to handle themselves without his interference, Harry turned his eyes towards Hogwarts. He knew Albus could see the front gate from his office. The real question was: Would he be too busy yelling at his torn group again to notice the flashing lights of battle.

It wasn't until most of the people who allied themselves with the Light had fallen that members of the Order started pouring from the castle. Harry forced the Marks of his troops to burn – the signal to leave – and smiled as they all popped out of sight. Harry, himself, waited until the members of the Order had come upon the few people who were conscious. Then he dropped his shadow again, hugging the child to his chest protectively – a father who forgot his child didn't deserve to keep her, in his eyes.

"You really are useless without me, aren't you, Albus?" Harry's smile was patronizing as the group of wizards and witches turned their wands on him.

Albus narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Harry, why don't you come down here so we can talk–"

"I wouldn't come within a mile of you, you child abuser," Harry returned nastily, smiling coldly as eyes turned to Albus in shock. "Be wary, Albus. I have a spy in your office. Perhaps you should be more careful of where you have your meetings and idle chats with curious Sorting Hats, hm?"

Albus looked furious and he turned his wand on Harry. "Avada Kedavra!"

The sickeningly green light flashed through empty air and Albus found that he and Harry were suddenly nose-to-nose. "You almost killed an innocent child, Albus. You need to be more careful," Harry whispered, eyes glowing angrily.

"Perhaps I've gone too easy on you," Albus hissed in reply.

"Yes," Harry agreed loudly. "Perhaps having me raped wasn't harsh enough. You should have had him kill me instead. That would have solved a lot of problems, don't you agree?" And then he was gone without another sound.

Albus was left in a sea of staring, horrified faces.

-~/\~-

"Why have you brought a brat back with you?" Voldemort growled when Harry stepped into the receiving room, where the Dark Lord was meeting with Lucius, Rodolphus, and Ranon Parkinson – the latter two having been on the raid.

Harry sat calmly in his usual seat next to his lover, settling the unconscious child carefully in his lap. "Her father abandoned her in favour of saving his own hide. I didn't want her trampled."

"You're too kind, Lord Potter." Rodolphus sighed, shaking his head.

Harry ran a gentle hand through soft dark brown hair and smiled sadly. "Perhaps I am."

Voldemort cleared his throat and gave Harry a stern look. "You can't keep her."

Harry shrugged. "I'll give her to Siri, then. He said he always wanted a child to teach his old trick–"

"Fine! You can keep her!" the Dark Lord allowed, then rubbed at his forehead in aggravation.

Harry smirked. "Thanks."

Lucius coughed. "My Lord, I believe you've just been out-Slytherined."

"Or so I'd noticed." Voldemort gave his lover a dry look. "It's your job to keep her out of trouble and not get her killed. If I find her in my office, I'm flooing her back to you. For now, find her a room. I'll get your report later."

Harry stood and bowed his head, then stepped smoothly from the room.

-~/\~-

When the girl woke, she found herself in a darkened room in a huge bed. She was in absolute awe as she sat up and looked around the shadow-filled room. Everything was perfectly magnificent – so much finer then at her home.

Where was she?

The door opened slowly, then, and green eyes met sky blue ones for a long moment before Harry smiled carefully. "Hey. How do you feel?" he asked, slipping into the room and motioning a couple of candles to light before pushing the door closed.

"You're Harry Potter, aren't you? The Boy-Who-Betrayed?" the child asked softly, hugging her knees to her chest.

Harry winced at the name the papers had given him shortly after the death of Fudge. "I admit that those are the names you're most likely to know me by," Harry agreed, pulling a chair over and sitting next to the child's bed. "But I can assure you that I am not the person that the papers say I am."

The girl shook her head sharply, frowning. "Where is Daddy? Where am I? What did you do to all those people?"

Harry sighed. "You're in our base, and I can only tell you that your father is alive. As for all the others who went to the DA meeting, no one was killed, they were just stunned or something else just as serious – or not-so-serious, in this case. When I left them, the Order was already there."

The child gave Harry a sad look. "Why did you attack us? Why did you bring me here? I want Daddy..."

Harry offered the girl a handkerchief and gazed on sadly and she scrubbed at her face and honked her nose into the cloth. "Honestly? I was doing it to make a point with Albus Dumbledore. As for your father?" Harry stood and stepped over to a heavily curtained window, looking out through a crack before speaking again, "I don't know if he'll even take you back anymore. You've been gone for nearly a day now."

A soft sob came from the child, shredding Harry's heart. "Are you going to torture me now?" her voice was spiteful – too spiteful for a child.

"You'll be safe here," Harry said dully. "Lord Voldemort's only rule, I believe, is that you stay out of his office – the rest of the manor is yours to roam." He glanced over at her with muted green eyes. "The Death Eaters come and go as they please – I would suggest avoiding them if you can. If you find yourself in trouble, call for myself or Blinky – she's a house-elf, you'll like her – and we'll come." He walked over to the door. "Are you hungry?"

"No," came the sharp-barbed reply.

Harry shrugged. "Suit yourself." Then he left, leaving the door open a crack.

-~/\~-

"She hates me," Harry moaned, falling into bed.

Tom glanced over from his desk. "Harry..." He let out a sigh. "Love, I tried to get you to return her to her family. I knew this would happen."

"I know," Harry allowed softly.

Tom rubbed at the bridge of his nose tiredly. "What happened after you made everyone leave, love?"

"At the attack?"

"Yes."

Harry shrugged listlessly. "I confronted Albus. He tried to kill me, so I informed the entire Order about his having me raped."

Tom turned in his chair, eyes wide. "Harry, that wasn't part of the original plan!"

"I don't care," Harry stated coolly. "The Order needs to know who they're really following."

Tom slipped from his chair and over to the bed. He sat next to Harry and ran a gentle hand through the wild black hair. "Love..."

Green met red, and then, "I want you."

Tom leaned down and kissed Harry firmly, fingers dancing along the line of buttons on Harry's robe and undoing them. Harry didn't move any more than to close his eyes, giving his elder lover complete control.

After unbuttoning Harry's robe, Tom simply banished it off the younger man, then did the same to his own robe. The Dark Lord stretched out over the other and kissed him as his hand slipped under Harry and prepared him.

There was no foreplay this time. There was just sex; two hot bodies rubbing together, greeting and melting and thrusting all through one sensitive spot. It wasn't making love; it was fucking, buggering, screwing – all those things and nothing more. Yes, there was love between the two participants, but this wasn't about love; this was about need and forgetting and pretending. It was stability in a world filled with chaos.

And when both had come quietly, Tom settled them under the covers, then waved the candle flames out.

Harry buried his face in Tom's chest, pressing himself flush against the elder wizard. I love you.

Tom closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Harry. I love you too, Harry. Get some sleep. Everything will work itself out.

I know.

-~/\~-

Harry was on his way to get some breakfast in the kitchen when he heard voices, "She's a purdy little thing, ain't she Bella?"

"What do you want with her, Lyle?" Bellatrix's voice replied dully.

"I need a bed warmer, o' course." Harry recognised the voice then. It was Lyle Bletchley – a boy that had been a few years above Harry in school.

"Perhaps I want a new target for practise," Bellatrix replied airily.

Harry stepped down the hall, slipping into the shadow's embrace unconsciously; there was only one little girl in the manor and that was the girl Harry had brought back yesterday.

Indeed, standing cowering against the wall under the hungry gazes of both Bellatrix and Bletchley was the young girl Harry had brought back yesterday. Fury made Harry clench his hands into fists and he stepped from the shadows directly behind the two Death Eaters – noticed only by the girl, who looked only mildly relieved.

"Maybe," Harry hissed coldly, "you'd both be better served finding out why a child would be running around the manor, rather than deciding who will get to drag her off to their room."

"My Lord!" Bletchley cried, pulling away from Harry with horror-filled eyes.

Bellatrix, on the other hand, just sneered at Harry. "Why, Potter, are you always getting in my way?"

"Perhaps because this is my home and you're always here?" Harry suggested nastily.

Bellatrix's hand shot out and wrapped around Harry's throat at the same time as Harry's wand touched to her forehead. "Let's see who can kill who first," Bellatrix suggested in the same tone as Harry had just used.

"I have a better idea," a snake-like voice offered furiously from the end of the hall. "How about you let go of your lord before I feel the need to tear you limb from limb?"

Bellatrix pulled away from Harry and dropped to her knees, then crawled over to where Voldemort stood, Bletchley cowering before him. Harry rubbed delicately at his throat while he watched Bellatrix kiss the hem of Voldemort's robe. The Dark Lord's face turned ugly as Bellatrix said, "I'm so sorry, my Lord. I lost control of myself. You know how I get..."

"I do," Voldemort agreed with a sneer. "And perhaps next time you will remember to control yourself around Harry." The Dark Lord waved his wand at the woman and she disappeared. Then he turned on Bletchley. "Learn not to touch what is not yours, Lyle. If you did not bring it into my manor, you will not touch it. Am I clear?"

"Yes, my Lord. I apologise, my Lord."

"Get out of here," Harry ordered with a slight rasp. Bletchley fled.

Voldemort glanced up at Harry. "How's your throat?"

Harry waved off the concern. "I'm fine." He turned to the girl who still stood against the wall, eyes glued to the Dark Lord at the end of the hall and filled with terror. "Child?"

Voldemort swept up to his lover and the girl. "Don't tell me you haven't even asked her name yet, Harry."

Harry gave the Dark Lord an annoyed look. "Stuff it, you bastard."

Voldemort shrugged, then looked down at the girl. "What's your name, girl?"

Shaking violently, the girl replied, "Cynthia Whyte."

Harry picked the girl up and held her against his chest as he stood before the Dark Lord. "You're scaring her."

"Am I really?" Voldemort replied sarcastically.

Harry snorted. "Oh, go to your meeting, then, you grump."

A smile tugged at the Dark Lord's lips and he held out the Daily Prophet. "I thought you might be interested in the front-page article."

"It's about me again, isn’t it?"

"Actually, it's about Dumbledore's hand in your mistreatment at the hands of Vernon. Apparently, Petunia offered her own testimony as soon as she found out about what you said yesterday. The whole world's in chaos." Voldemort's smile widened. "If I'd known that you outing the old coot was going to put him in everyone's bad graces, I would have had you do it ages ago."

"You're funny," Harry informed his lover, putting the paper in the pocket of his robe. "Now go away."

Voldemort shrugged. "Next time Bella's trying to kill you, call me."

"You said she's mine," Harry shot back sharply.

"She is, I just don't want her killing you because you're too much of a Gryffindor to call for help." Scarlet eyes burned into green. "Next time, you will call me."

Harry pursed his lips. "Fine."

Voldemort nodded, then spun on his heels and stalked from the hall.

Harry waited until he was gone before looking down into sky-blue eyes. "Have you had breakfast?"

Cynthia bit her bottom lip. "No."

Harry smiled, then headed for the kitchen. "You should have called Blinky. I asked her to listen for your call and make it priority. If you need help, call her. I promise she'll come."

"Okay."

Harry let the girl down once they were in the kitchen and smiled at the two men who were sitting at the table. "Do you mind if we join you?"

"Not at all," Rodolphus replied with a smile. Rabastan, next to him, shrugged uncaringly and shoved another forkful of eggs in his mouth.

"Perfect." Harry rose Cynthia up into a chair, ignoring the incensed look he received in return, and called, "Blinky!"

The brightly-dressed house-elf appeared with a 'pop'. "What can Blinky do for Master Harry?"

Harry grinned. "Blinky, this is Cynthia. Cynthia, this is Blinky."

"Miss Cynthia is who Master Harry wants Blinky to care for?"

"If you would, yes," Harry agreed.

Blinky smiled widely. "Blinky will be pleased to care for Miss Cynthia!"

Harry nodded and took a seat next to the surprised girl. "What do you want for breakfast, Cynthia?"

"Uhm, I don't know. Whatever," Cynthia mumbled.

Harry nodded and winked at Blinky. "English breakfast for both of us, then."

"Right away!" Blinky assured them, then fled towards the actual kitchen part.

Harry smiled at Cynthia. "All right?"

"Yeah," Cynthia responded softly.

-~/\~-

"Can I please read the paper, Mr Harry?" Cynthia asked cheerfully. She was skipping along next to Harry, who was headed towards his office to work.

Harry glanced down with a faint smile – a good breakfast and a few jokes with Rodolphus at the table had made the child much more friendly. "Does your father usually let you look at the paper?"

Cynthia's face fell for a brief moment before she forced her smile back to life. "Sometimes."

Harry nodded and handed over the paper – he could read it later – then stopped before his office. "Cynthia, this is my office. You're always welcome in here. The dark green door down there," Harry pointed down the hall, "is Voldemort's office. You don't want to go in there, trust me. The silver door across the hall from Voldemort's office – you can't see it from here – is Lucius Malfoy's office; I doubt he'd mind too much if you dropped by, but I wouldn't suggest it." Harry smiled down at the girl, who had skipped across the hallway so she could catch sight of Lucius' door. "Would you like to come into my office and read that?"

"Yeah!" Cynthia skipped back across the hall and into Harry's office.

Harry settled behind his desk and watched Cynthia walk around and stare at his maps and small collection of gadgets for a moment before pulling over a sheet of parchment and beginning to decode it.

The room was silent for a good half hour before Cynthia asked, "Mr Harry?"

Harry glanced up from writing a reply to one of their spies in the Ministry. "Yes?"

Cynthia waved the paper. "Is this article all true?"

Harry blinked. "I haven't read it yet, but it probably is. Voldemort said my aunt gave testimony, after all."

Cynthia looked back down at the large picture of Albus on the front page, then punched it. "He's bad."

Harry's eyes widened. "Whoa, whoa. What exactly does that article say? For that matter, who wrote it?"

"Rita Skeeter," Cynthia replied quietly, offering the paper to Harry.

Harry sighed and took the paper, then looked it over quickly, eyes widening and face paling. "Fuck...."

Cynthia's eyes shot up. "Mr Harry?" she asked, sounding a bit worried.

Harry rubbed at his eyes. "I believe that makes a total of two articles that Rita's written that have been totally true." He tossed the paper in the bin next to his desk and offered Cynthia a shaky smile. "I'm fine."

Cynthia nodded, then stood. "Where's the bathroom, Mr Harry?"

"Out the door and to the left. It's the third door on the right," Harry offered tiredly.

"Thanks." Cynthia slipped from the room, pulling the door closed behind her quietly.

Harry took a moment to look over at the picture that Ula took at the end of the last school year of himself and Tom, as Voldemort, kissing in Tom's rooms at Hogwarts. The two in the picture pulled apart and smiled at Harry and the young lord tried to smile back. He hadn't wanted people to know what his uncle had done to him, and he certainly didn't want the whole of the wizarding world to know the few secrets he'd worked so hard to hide from even his best friends. Why did his temper always ruin things?

"Harry?"

Harry glanced up and was only mildly surprised to find that Cynthia stood just behind the Dark Lord in the doorway. How did he know that the brat wasn't really going to the bathroom. "I'm fine," he muttered, picking his quill back up and looking down at the letter he'd been writing.

Voldemort stepped up next to Harry's chair and took the quill from his fingers gently. "I shouldn't have given you that paper, should I have?" he asked softly.

"I said, I'm fine," Harry grumbled, giving his lover an annoyed look.

"You know you can't fool me, you imp. Why do you even try?" the Dark Lord whispered, then leaned over and kissed Harry's scar gently.

"Stupid bastard," Harry replied, making a face. "Give me back my quill."

Voldemort's lipless mouth twitched with a smile and he handed the quill back, then ruffled Harry's hair. "Don't overwork yourself."

Harry dipped his quill into the ink bottle. "Listen to your own advice every now and then."

The Dark Lord winked at Cynthia, who looked absolutely floored, then swept from the room, waving the door closed behind him.

Cynthia carefully returned to her original chair. "He's not all that bad either, is he?"

Harry glanced up with a smile. "He's not about to Avada Kedavra everyone in sight, if that's what you mean."

"He was really nice just now," Cynthia pointed out.

Harry shrugged. "He's not always that nice; there are just a select few he won't Crucio for cracking a joke in his presence."

Cynthia shuddered. "Am I safe, though?"

Harry smiled reassuringly. "Of course."

Cynthia looked too relieved for words.

-~/\~-

Gin snuck into the Owlery with a scroll. Celer had never returned from delivering Harry's last letter and she was worried that the Order had intercepted it. She had to warn him. 'Hedwig?'

The snowy owl soared down to her owner's sister and settled on her shoulder curiously.

Gin quickly tied the scroll to Hedwig's leg. 'You have to get this to Harry immediately. I'm afraid Celer has been caught.'

"And indeed he has."

'Hedwig! Go!' Gin spun to face Dumbledore as he stepped fully into the Owlery.

"Stupefy!" Dumbledore threw at Hedwig as the owl flew towards the large window.

A strangled sound left Gin's ruined throat as she jumped in front of the spell, allowing Hedwig to get free while she fell to the shit-covered ground. As if her act of selflessness was a cue, all of the owls soared from their perches and out a window.

Dumbledore dashed to the nearest window, but Hedwig had been lost within the clouds of owls, all of which were flying the same way. Dumbledore turned back to Gin angrily. Never mind the bird; I have Miss Weasley. Harry will have to come to the school to get her, and then I'll have him.

-~/\~-

-~\/~-

A/N: *loves tormenting her pretty readers with cliffies* I'll go work on the next chapter now, rather than waste precious time leaving some inane note, hm?

~Bats ^.^x

Abandon & Reclaim Series:
Abandon the Prequel: Sixth Year
Abandon Chapters:
01 || 02 || 03 || 04 || 05 || 06 || 07 || 08 || 09 || 10
11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16 || 17 || 18 || 19 || 20
21 || 22 || 23 || 24 || 25 || 26 || 27 || 28 || 29 || 30
31 || 32 || 33 || 34 || 35 || 36 || 37 || 38 || 39 || 40
41 || 42 || 43 || 44 || 45 || 46 || 47
Reclaim Chapters:
One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Six || Seven || Eight || Nine || Ten
~~Eleven~~ || Twelve || Thirteen || Fourteen || Fifteen
Epilogue
Side Stories:
Ginevra Weasley & Theodore Nott
Minerva McGonagall || Minerva McGonagall (again)

Current Mood: drained
Current Music: You're The Top ~ Cole Porter

Page 1 of 2 << [1] [2] >>

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mneiai.livejournal.com

Ooh, Greyback....I'd really like to see more a scene with him and Remus....

And yet another stray Harry decides to take in, I see ^.^ Poor little girl just doesn't know what she's been dragged into ::grin::

From:

They condemn what they do not understand

FIC: Reclaim ~ 11 ~ R ~ Tom(Voldemort)/Harry