Chapter Text
Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you shall renew your son!
Flesh - of the servant - w-willingly given - you will - revive - your master!
B-blood of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe.
Lord Voldemort had risen again.
Except, the man that rose from the cauldron wasn’t at all what Harry expected. He was expecting some kind of monster, the stuff of nightmares, something comparable to the boogyman. But, in truth, the man that emerged from the cauldron was just that; a man. He looked fairly normal, not dissimilar to the Tom Riddle of the Diary. He just looked older, more dignified and a lot less angry. Also, a lot more naked.
“Harry Potter,” Voldemort said in his deep, smooth, and strangely calming voice. It was almost hypnotic, listening to him speak. His voice made you want to listen; it made you want to pay attention, “I have been waiting a long time for this. To speak with you.”
“We’ve actually met a couple of times at this point,” Harry said as Voldemort finally put some bloody clothes on.
Voldemort laughed, “I suppose we have, although not in many years, Harry, and I don’t suppose you remember our interaction when you were a baby.” Then, Voldemort walked over to the gravestone where Harry was tied up, and with a wave of his hand, Harry was released and fell to the ground with a thump.
Harry looked up, “I do, actually. Remember Halloween night,” Harry said.
Voldemort raised an eyebrow, “And how is that?”
Harry shrugged, “Dementors. They make me relive it.”
Voldemort hummed.
Harry tried to stand up, but the acromantula bite and the significant blood loss made it quite difficult. He stumbled, and Voldemort was there in a second to steady him. Harry looked up, noticing that he looked surprisingly concerned for him.
“So not to be a Debby Downer or whatever, but when are we going to get to the you killing me bit, because I’d rather just get that over with if possible,” Harry said, looking at Voldemort in confusion.
“I don’t want to kill you, Harry. I want to talk to you.” Voldemort replied.
“That would be a first,” Harry muttered under his breath.
“To my knowledge, I have only tried to kill you the once,” Voldemort said with a raised eyebrow.
“Well then your knowledge is a bit fucking shit,” Harry said with a wry laugh and then began counting off on his fingers, “When I was a baby, when you were attached to Quirrell, and you were looking for the Philosophers Stone, and in the Chamber of Secrets.”
“There is much you don’t know, Harry, and much I have to explain. However, considering I haven’t been in the Chamber in over 50 years, I find that one hard to believe,” Voldemort replied.
Harry scoffed, “Your bloody diary possessed Ginny Weasley, opened the Chamber of Secrets in my second year, petrified a bunch of people, tried to kill Ginny, set a basilisk on me, I had to kill the basilisk by the way, and then I stabbed the diary with one of the fangs and then you disappeared.”
Voldemort tensed, “That is a problem.”
“Problem?” Harry questioned, his brain still not really processing what was happening.
Voldemort sighed, “That diary contained a piece of my soul, Harry.”
“What the fuck!” Harry exclaimed.
“I experimented with magic that I didn’t understand when I was younger; I made Horcruxes. I intended to reabsorb them all, but the diary is well and truly destroyed,” Voldemort said wearily.
“ Master, the snivelling rat man is bothering me. May I eat him?” Harry heard a hissing voice say from somewhere behind him.
Harry laughed, “ Can I watch?”
Both Voldemort and the snake stared at him.
“ You didn’t tell me he was a speaker, Master,” The snake said to Voldemort.
“ I did not know, Nagini,” Voldemort replied, looking at Harry in fascination.
Harry blushed, “I thought most people knew; everyone found out in my second year, they all thought I was the Heir of Slytherin.”
Voldemort reached out and brushed Harry’s hair away from his scar, causing Harry to recoil, expecting the burning pain he usually felt when Voldemort was near, but there was none. Voldemort pressed one of his fingers to his scar, and both he and Harry gasped.
“Mine,” Voldemort whispered reverently.
Harry yanked himself out of Voldemort’s grasp, “First of all, ew, how old are you? Second of all, no, I don’t belong to anyone.”
Voldemort laughed, “No, Harry. Your scar contains one of my Horcruxes.”
“I fucking beg your pardon?” Harry exclaimed.
“I don’t know how it happened, but you are one of my Horcruxes, Harry,” Voldemort answered.
“Bullshit,” Harry denied.
“ He must be protected, Master,” Nagini said, looking at Harry, “ He smells of hurt and sadness.”
“I do not smell of sadness,” Harry huffed.
Harry was sure that if snakes could roll their eyes, Nagini would have done so.
“I need to call my followers now. Will you be ok here, Harry?” Voldemort asked, looking at him with genuine concern. Harry just nodded, utterly bewildered.
“Wormtail!” Voldemort snapped. The snivelling man made his way over on his hands and knees, causing Harry to sneer. “Your arm, Wormtail.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you, my Lord,” Wormtail cried, holding out his stump to Voldemort.
Voldemort sneered, “Your other arm, Wormtail.”
Wormtail let out a harsh sob but held out his arm for Voldemort. Voldemort pressed his wand to the Dark Mark, and not a moment later, pops of apparition sounded in the graveyard.
“Harry!” Harry heard a voice call out, and he snapped his head almost violently to find the source.
“Sev!” Harry used all his strength to pull himself up and run into the potion master’s arms.
“Are you ok?” Severus Snape whispered into his ear.
“I’m fine. I got bitten by an acromantula, though,” Harry replied sheepishly.
“Idiot boy!” Severus said before pulling out a potion and shoving it down Harry’s throat.
“Interesting,” A voice drawled behind them, and both Severus and Harry stiffened.
“My Lord, I,” Severus started, but Voldemort cut him off.
“Think nothing of it, Severus. We will speak later. Tend to Harry; he is obviously more injured than he let on,” Voldemort said with a raised eyebrow in Harry’s direction before walking off.
“Harry?” Severus mouthed at Harry, who just shrugged and shook his head in confusion.
“My friends,” Voldemort spoke softly, “How long it has been. How long it has been since we have stood together. How long it has been since we planned the change of the Wizarding World. I do not begrudge your denouncement of me. By the end of the war, I was not myself. I had lost sight of our goals, of our plans. And, unforgivably, I went after a child,” Voldemort pointed to Harry, “As you can see, I have not harmed Harry Potter since he so graciously helped return me to my former glory.”
Harry snorted derisively, and Severus shot him a look, “Sorry, continue,” Harry said, gesturing for Voldemort to go on.
Everyone in the circle tensed, but Voldemort just laughed. Harry was pretty sure that made the Death Eaters even more tense.
“Severus?” Voldemort turned to look where Severus still had Harry cuddled to his chest.
“Yes, my Lord?” Severus asked, unconsciously tightening his hold on Harry.
“I need you to return to Hogwarts, you can inform Dumbledore of my return, but I need you to make sure that my other spy escapes Hogwarts tonight,” Voldemort said.
“Do you mean Not-Moody?” Harry asked.
“Not-Moody?” Voldemort asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.
“Well, he’s obviously not Moody; his magic feels all wrong like it doesn’t fit his body somehow,” Harry said, looking at Severus, who was watching him in confusion.
“You can feel his magic, Harry?” Voldemort asked softly as the rest of the Death Eaters turned to look at Harry as well.
“Well, yeah. Can’t everyone?” Harry asked, looking at Severus.
“No, Harry. I do not know of anyone that can feel magic like that,” he replied.
“Oh,” Harry responded, looking back down and picking at the hem of his shirt.
“Shall I take Harry with me, my Lord?” Severus asked, desperately hoping the answer was yes.
“No, Severus. He will be coming with me,” Voldemort replied.
Severus tightened his hold on Harry even more.
“I swear he will not come to harm by mine or any others hand,” Voldemort spoke softly as he handed Severus a portkey for him to give to Not-Moody.
Severus nodded jerkily but let Harry go, “I’ll see you soon, Harry,” and disapparated away after kissing Harry on the head.
“Lucius,” Voldemort spoke again.
“My Lord?” The blonde man said with a bow.
“Myself and Harry will be staying with you at your Manor for the time being until I have a proper place set up for the both of us,” Voldemort said.
“It would be my honour to host you and Heir Potter,” Lucius spoke reverently.
“Heir Potter?” Harry asked, turning to Voldemort.
“You are the Heir to the Potter line. You received your heir ring from Gringotts when you turned 11, did you not?” Voldemort asked.
“I don’t even have my key,” Harry mumbled.
Lucius looked at Harry, “Mr Potter, did your magical guardian not speak to you about this?”
Harry looked at Lucius, “What’s a magical guardian?”
Lucius rolled his head skywards, “This explains so much. But, just so I have this clear, you don’t have your heir ring,” Harry nodded, “you were never given lessons by a magical guardian when you were younger,” Harry shook his head, “Do you know who had your voting rights on the Wizengamot?”
“What’s the Wizengamot?” Harry asked.
“Merlin help us,” Lucius groaned, “When you rejected my son’s friendship on the train, it was not because he was the heir to a dark family, was it?”
“No, he was being a little prick; I’d never even heard of the Malfoy’s before I met him,” Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.
“Harry,” Voldemort said as he turned to look at him and placed his hands on his shoulders, “Where did you grow up?”
Harry scrunched up his face, “In the muggle world with my aunt, everyone knows that. I didn’t even know I was a wizard until Hagrid came to deliver my letter.”
“We will need to take Mr Potter to Gringotts as soon as possible, my Lord,” Lucius said, looking at Harry as though he had never seen him before.
“Yes, that seems to be the case,” Voldemort murmured under his breath. Then, he turned back to the rest of his followers, “For now your orders are to go about your lives as if nothing has changed, I want no one to act like I have returned, I will call you all at a later date when I have freed the rest of our friends from Azkaban.”
A chorus of “Yes, my Lord” rumbled through the Death Eaters, and they all disapparated.
“Wormtail!” Voldemort barked, and the man crawled over again. Voldemort pointed his wand at Wormtail’s stump. A beautiful silver hand emerged from the stump, and Wormtail watched it with fascination until Voldemort once again pointed his wand at him, and Wormtail locked up and fell to the ground. Voldemort threw what looked like a coin onto Wormtail’s body, and it disappeared.
“That should be enough to get your godfather a trial, or at least start the process,” Voldemort said as Harry looked up at him with wide eyes.
Voldemort picked up Nagini and wrapped her around his neck before he placed his hand on Harry’s shoulder, “Come, Harry. It’s time to go.”
Harry just nodded, feeling entirely out of sorts, and suddenly he felt like he was being pulled through a tube before landing quite undignified in an opulent hallway.
“Lucius,” Harry heard a voice call out, “Is everything ok?” There was a slight gasp, and then the voice said again, “My Lord?”
“Hello Narcissa, it is good to see you again,” Voldemort said, sounding very sincere.
Harry finally regained enough of his senses to stand up from the floor with a groan, “That was more awful than the portkey. I hate all Wizarding travel but brooms.”
Voldemort chuckled, “I’ll make sure to have a broom for you next time,” Voldemort turned back to Narcissa, “Narcissa, may I introduce you to Harry Potter.”
Narcissa Malfoy turned her sharp gaze onto Harry, “Well, this is quite a shock. Welcome to Malfoy Manor, Heir Potter.”
“Um, thanks?” Harry said, looking confusedly between the adults in the room.
“Narcissa is a healer. I’ll be trusting her to look after you,” Voldemort said to Harry.
Harry paled dramatically, “I don’t need a healer. I’m fine.”
“You do need a healer, Harry,” Voldemort said a bit more forcefully, slightly concerned by Harry’s reaction.
“Then I want Sev,” Harry said.
Voldemort looked piercingly at Harry, “Severus is not a healer, Harry.”
Narcissa reached out to touch Harry’s shoulder, but he jerked back almost violently. Her eyes widened when she saw the sheer panic in Harry’s eyes. She withdrew her hand and smiled at him, “That’s fine, Harry. We can wait for Severus.”
Harry let out a breath and relaxed, completely missing the silent conversation between Narcissa and the Dark Lord.
“We need to find a way to get Mr Potter’s things from the school without arousing suspicion,” Lucius said after a minute.
“Oh, I can do that,” Harry said brightly. He was about to say something else before he made a pained face, “Actually, Mr Malfoy, could you please leave the room?” Harry asked apologetically.
“Pardon?” Lucius asked.
“My elf, he, um, doesn’t like you much,” Harry said.
“Ah,” Lucius said with a wince, “Dobby?”
“Yes,” Harry said with a nod.
Lucius nodded and left the room.
“Dobby?” Harry called.
Dobby appeared before them with a pop, “Master Harry Potter sir, calls for Dobby?”
“Hi Dobby, can you please get my stuff from Gryffindor Tower and bring it back here?” Harry asked the little elf.
Dobby looked around with wide eyes, “Is Harry Potter sure?”
“I’m perfectly safe here, Dobby,” at least, he hoped he was.
Dobby looked at him sceptically, “If Harry Potter says so,” before popping off before returning a moment later with Harry’s trunk and his Firebolt.
“Does Master Harry Potter bes needing anything else from Dobby?” Dobby asked.
Harry smiled, “No, thank you, Dobby.”
Dobby turned a fairly impressive scowl for a house elf onto Voldemort and Narcissa and said, “Dobby bes watching you,” before popping away.
Both Voldemort and Narcissa turned slightly bewildered looks onto Harry, who just laughed, “He’s very protective.”
As Lucius came back out to join them, Harry felt the magic in the air shift, “Someone’s coming.”
“How could you possibly,” but Lucius was cut off by the arrival of someone via portkey.
A young man arrived in the foyer. He was slight, with sandy blonde hair and a light smattering of freckles over his face. Harry had never met the man, but he recognised his magic, “Hey, it’s Not-Moody!”
The man, who up until that point had had his head bowed, looked up at Harry, “Potter?”
“Hi,” Harry said with a wave.
“Sorry,” the man said in confusion, “Did you just call me Not-Moody?”
“Yeah, I recognised your magic,” Harry said with a shrug.
“You recognised my… you know what, I don’t even want to know,” the man said, with a shake of his head.
“Harry, meet Barty Crouch Jr,” Voldemort said.
“Huh, you look less dead than I imagined you would,” Harry said, causing Voldemort to snort.
“I like you, kid,” Barty said with a laugh.
“It’s been a long day, and I would like to settle Harry into his room,” Voldemort said, looking at Narcissa.
Narcissa bowed, “Of course, my Lord.”
Narcissa led them through Malfoy Manor. In Harry’s opinion, it was excessive, but it made Harry understand Malfoy a bit better. It would be hard to grow up here and not turn into a bit of a tit with an inflated sense of self-worth.
Once Narcissa had settled Harry into his frankly ridiculous room and bid both him and Voldemort goodnight, Harry turned his sharp gaze onto Voldemort, “Why are you doing this?”
Voldemort sighed, “That is a long and frankly confusing question, Harry, and I don’t think we have the time to go through it tonight.”
“Just give me something, please,” Harry practically begged.
Voldemort sighed, “I have made a great number of mistakes in my life, Harry, but there is nothing I regret more than the attack on your family,” Harry’s eyes widened, “Just before your mother married your father, she took a blood inheritance test and discovered that she came from a squib line, descending from the Gaunt’s. She was desperate to find anyone related to her in the magical world, and that’s how she found me. I spent a lot of time with your mother and your father. I almost had them convinced to join my side until I was delivered a prophecy promising my demise at the hands of a child, their child. I wanted to ignore it desperately, but it was like, without my consent, something in my brain snapped, and I was consumed with the desperate need to destroy you. Lily cut off all contact with me and went into hiding, but obviously, I found her. When I killed your parents, Harry, it was like I was a passenger in my own mind, like I had no control over what I was doing. Then when I tried to kill you, my spirit was ripped from my body, and I saw what I had done. I was so overcome with grief I fled to Albania, that was where Wormtail found me. I don’t know who or what was controlling Quirrell, but I promise you, Harry, it wasn’t me.”