Chapter Text
Carry on my Wayward Son
Into the Serpent’s Lair
It was a bad idea, he knew it was, but he had no choice. Death was all that was waiting for him; whether it be tonight, next week or next year it didn’t matter, he was going to die, and he wouldn’t let someone else dictate when and where. Besides, this way there was at least a chance that he’d be able to save the people he loved.
Closing his eyes he took a deep breath trying in vain to stop the frightened trembling of his hands. He had to control his fear, if he was too frightened the mental training he’d undertaken would be worthless and his whole plan; well his entire life actually, would be a complete waste of time. He stayed where he was for several seconds, going over the mental path he’d created for his enemy to walk, when the man undoubtedly looked into his head, making sure it was smooth and the blocks he’d put in place were properly disguised to look like turns in the road. When at last he was satisfied that everything was as it needed to be he took one last deep breath and readjusted the invisibility cloak over himself before moving toward the hidden back entrance to Slytherin Manor.
It had been easier than he’d expected it to be to get into the Manor, even with the directions he’d been given, and it was equally easy to navigate the place. Locating Voldemort wasn’t the simplest task, his energy filled the entire place and it was easier than Harry would have liked to be fooled by a whisper of it in a room the dark lord had obviously used more recently than others. The man was powerful, Harry already knew that but this brought the point home with a burning stab and he hoped his plan worked the way he wanted it to, if it didn’t he was in for a world of pain before the dark lord finally killed him.
When at last he located the man he wasn’t at all surprised by where he was or what he was doing. In the middle of the manor, in a room that could only be described as a throne room, the dark lord sat on a silver throne decorated in green silk, stroking the head of his giant snake that rested on his lap and … brooding. Harry would have laughed at the idea of the dark lord brooding if he didn’t think it was likely to get him killed. No doubt the man was angry that Dumbledore was still breathing, an annoyance the pair of them shared although the dark lord didn’t realise it yet.
Knowing the cranky dark lord was bound to notice his presence soon Harry took a deep breath and ran through the script he’d chosen for this moment quickly before finally deciding to reveal himself to the snake faced man, not physically just yet of course, that would have been suicide. He cast the wandless spell he’d found to make his voice sound like it was coming from all directions at once so the Dark lord couldn’t find him from the direction of his voice and said.
“You look utterly dour, Tom, whatever has you in such a lousy mood? Is it the fact that Dumbledore once more escaped your death plans for him or is it something else entirely, like your lack of ability to kill me?” He asked letting his amusement show through his voice.
Voldemort who’d stiffened and sat up with an angry expression on his snake like face the moment he heard Harry’s voice searched the room with wary, scarlet eyes, a shield immediately snapping up around himself and the snake, not that there hadn’t been one there already, the man really was paranoid not that Harry blamed him. “Potter?!” he half asked half snarled.
“The one and only,” Harry replied jovially. “And don’t bother sending the snake around the room to find me, I’ve worked out a rather lovely spell to kill her the moment she gets within a metre of me, shield or not,” he warned the dark wizard very grateful that he’d found that spell while he’d been looking for something else in the library one day.
Voldemort sneered, “You expect me to believe that?” he asked, his voice taking on a superior and disbelieving air now that he’d gotten over the shock of Harry’s appearance in his manor.
“Well you don’t have to, but I know she’s one of your Horcruxes and you wouldn’t want to risk her safety now would you,” Harry replied mimicking the older wizard’s superior tone.
Voldemort’s face took on a slight look of trepidation and he placed a protective hand on Nagini’s head. Harry smiled, enjoying the other man’s caution more than he’d ever admit.
“Wise choice, Tom,” he praised and the man glared.
“Shut up insect,” Voldemort growled clearly not happy with Harry speaking to him that way.
Harry just laughed. “You don’t have much of a sense of humour when you’re not the one calling the shots now do you? Now now, Tom, you shouldn’t be greedy, no one can be the boss all the time,” He said even though he knew it wasn’t going to help his case when he argued it to the wizard who was no doubt getting more and more annoyed with him by the second.
The man’s white, serpentine face turned an angry red and knowing he was going to explode very shortly Harry knew he had to say something to diffuse the situation before it cost him everything.
“Then again I think you might actually be able to one day, which funnily enough is why I’m here,” he said smirking at the look of suspicious surprise that replaced the anger on the dark lord’s face.
“What exactly do you mean by that Potter?” he asked before a gleeful smile suddenly lit his pointy face. “Are you here to surrender yourself to me and allow me at last to send on your merry way to the afterlife?” he asked eagerly.
Harry chuckled, “Just how likely do you think that is, Tom?” Harry asked smirking once more as the dark wizard’s face took on another expression of anger. That man really must have a serious case of bipolar disorder.
“Do not call me that name you rodent!” the man bellowed.
“Would you rather I called you Voldemort?” Harry asked knowing he was once more closer than he would like to releasing the dark wizard’s explosive temper.
“You are in my manor, Dark Lord is how you should address me,” Voldemort snarled and Harry rolled his eyes.
“Fine, Dark Lord,” Harry agreed trying not to sound too stroppy. It burned his ego to have to address the other wizard so but he needed to start getting on the man’s good
side if he wanted his plan to work.
Voldemort seemed surprised by his acceptance, a surprise that soon turned to suspicion. “What exactly are you doing here, Potter?” he asked with narrowed eyes. “If you’d wanted to kill me I’m assuming you’d have already tried, then again you Gryffindors can be an odd lot.”
Harry chuckled, “That we can. You are right though, I didn’t come here to kill you, in fact I came here with a proposition for you,” he replied.
“A proposition? Does it involve you dying a slow and painful death because I can’t imagine there’s anything else you could possibly give me that I’d want,” the dark wizard replied.
“How about a new ally, would that be of interest to you?” Harry asked.
Voldemort raised his eyebrows in surprise, well; at least Harry was pretty sure he would have had he still possessed eyebrows … or any hair at all. Then, out of nowhere, maniacal laughter filled the room and Voldemort looked like he was positively wetting himself in a fit of hysterics.
“Harry, Harry, Harry, either you think I’m a complete fool or your order is insanely desperate, either way this is just pathetic,” the man replied when his laughter finally calmed down. “You’d be better off just telling me where you are now, Harry, I’ll give you a quick death, it’ll save both of us a lot of time and I won’t have to listen to you prattle on and on about why I should believe your ridiculous claims.”
Harry smiled to himself. He’d come here expecting a long explanation process and had thankfully brought information to prove himself to the other wizard.
“Oh they’re not ridiculous, and of course I would not come here with a proposition such as this and not bring along information with which to prove my sincerity,” Harry replied smugly.
That got Voldemort’s attention.
“Information you say, what kind of information?” the snake faced wizard asked.
Harry smiled, now to dangle some bait out in front of the wild bear. “The order has several safe houses where a number of their operatives are staying over the summer. Aside from Dumbledore name any operative wizard you wish to find and kill this night and I will tell you whether it is achievable, where they are and how to get through the wards around the building,” Harry offered wondering who the dark wizard would choose.
Voldemort looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before replying, “Ronald Weasley.”
Harry smiled to himself, this was a test. “While I would gladly tell you where Ronald is staying tonight our agreement was for an order operative and while I’m sure this is a test to see if I am sincere about wishing to aid you I would hate to short change you as I will only be supplying the location of one until you hear me out properly and I doubt you really want Ron that badly, he’s useless, completely, we all know it.”
Voldemort chuckled quietly his red eyes looking truly amused. “True, very true,” he agreed. “All right then, Moody.”
Harry smiled to himself under his cloak, somehow he’d had a feeling the evil wizard would pick Moody and he had no problems whatsoever with giving over the crazy bastard’s location or the extra tricks he used to secure his location. With a silent, wandless spell he conjured up a piece of parchment with all the information the dark wizard would need and charmed it to appear in the man’s lap on top of Nagini.
Voldemort looked down at the parchment before once more searching the room with his eyes as he had been since he’d first heard Harry’s voice. “How do I know I can trust these instructions and you’re not leading me into an ambush?” the dark wizard asked suspiciously. “This is after all a rather abrupt change of heart you seem to be having.”
Harry snorted, “As if you’d actually be going yourself,” he scoffed. “You have plenty of single use death eaters I’m sure you could find any number of them to send on a mission like this. That piece of parchment is all the information they’ll need, if they’ve got even half a brain between them they should be able to walk right in. The only issue will be whether they can fight off Moody when they get there, that’s the only catch, I’m afraid.”
“Moody’s an Auror, a well-trained Auror, he could kill several of my death eaters before they manage to capture him,” Voldemort stated as if he expected Harry to do something about it.
“You won’t care and we both know it. Besides, I didn’t pick the target, you chose and this is far more of an advantage than you’d have if you went against him any other time. He may be a promoter of constant vigilance but he has to sleep sometime and right now he’s alone, that’s not a chance you get very often,” Harry argued.
When it looked like Voldemort still wasn’t convinced he continued. “Look, this information is only good for tonight, after that they’ll all move and the warding information will change, if you want to collect the insane Auror you need to send people now!” Voldemort looked thoughtful for another few moments before angrily lifting the sleeve on his robe and pressing his wand to the dark mark to summon a death eater.
“You’d better be correct about this information Potter, if you’re lying I will call in every death eater I have and we will cover this room in killing curses until we find you,” Voldemort warned once his summons had been sent.
“I have no desire to lie to you, dark lord, that wouldn’t serve my purposes at all,” Harry replied.
“And what exactly are those?” Voldemort hissed.
“Those I will explain when my information has been proven correct,” Harry replied.
Voldemort looked like he was about argue, the sound of footsteps approaching the room drew his attention however and moments later Bellatrix sauntered into the room looking loopy as ever. She bowed at his feet and kissed the hem of his robes like a dog, Harry was sickened by her pathetic posturing.
“You sent for me, my lord,” she said, her voice reverent.
Voldemort handed her the parchment and ordered her to take as many death eaters as she felt she needed to retrieve Moody. She all but skipped from the room without question and once she was out of earshot Harry turned to look at the Dark lord and asked. “How does she not drive you up the wall?”
Voldemort chuckled, really chuckled, something Harry never thought he’d hear out of the terrifying dark lord. “Who says she doesn’t?” he asked in return causing harry to chuckle with him. He may hate Voldemort but any joke made about loopy Bellatrix was worth laughing at. He had to admit he was surprised the man had chosen her; he thought Bellatrix was one of the dark lord’s favourites. Of course she probably wouldn’t be after Harry had filled the dark lord in about a couple of things.
They were silent while they waited for Bellatrix to return, both lost in thought and pondering what to do about the other. So far Harry was pretty happy with how things were going, he just hoped there were no hiccups and Bellatrix returned with a dead or at least stunned Moody.
It took what felt like days for the sound of footsteps to echo through the manor once more and moments later Bellatrix all but skipped back into the room, a group of death eaters in tow, with mad eye’s body floating in the middle of them. She bowed at his feet as did the rest of the death eaters and from his spot on the other side of the room Harry grinned. All according to plan.
“Report Bellatrix,” Voldemort ordered.
“We lost three death eaters, My Lord but no one important,” Bellatrix reported. “The auror is stunned and injured but still alive for your pleasure, my lord.” She finished with a low bow.
“The information I provided you with, was it accurate?” Voldemort asked her.
“It was flawless, my lord,” Bellatrix replied that sickening reverence back in her tone.
Voldemort smiled in a way that made every death eater in the room aside from Bellatrix shrink back in fear and Harry had to say he enjoyed the view. “Take him to the dungeon and lock him up thoroughly, after that you can all return to your beds.”
They bowed and left the room, their relief at having been successful and therefore going unpunished during this meeting was palpable. Once they were gone the door slammed shut behind them and Voldemort’s gleeful eyes resumed their search of the room for Harry.
“All right, Mr Potter, let’s hear what you have to say,” The dark Lord invited.
“I want to join you; I think that goes without saying. I will help you take over the wizarding world and you can choose what form that help takes, although I’d prefer to spend as little time as possible around the order, I’ve grown to quite despise most of them. I will use my magic to aid your quest and in return I ask for only two things,” Harry explained his position.
“Oh and what are those?” the dark wizard asked curiously.
“Firstly, I want immunity for those I still care about, I don’t care what happens to the rest of the world but I want those people safe and unharmed,” Harry replied.
“And the second one?” Voldemort asked.
“I want Dumbledore dead! I don’t care how that comes about but I want to see that stupid old coot’s head up on a stake in the front lobby of the ministry building for everyone to see,” Harry finished.
“Truly, that’s all you want?” Voldemort asked disbelievingly.
“That’s all I want,” Harry confirmed.
“Not even an agreement that I will not kill you once I achieve my goals?” Voldemort asked.
Harry shook his head. “I don’t care about my life anymore,” he admitted honestly. “I care about keeping my loved ones out of danger and getting revenge on those who’ve wronged me, once I’ve achieved that and seen to it that things won’t change once I’m gone you’re free to kill me, I won’t even fight back. Of course I’ll want a guarantee that I will live to see the end of your campaign, I don’t want one of your death eaters killing me before our agreement is complete, after that, as I said, I don’t care.”
Voldemort cocked his head to the side. “When did you become so morbid, Harry?” he asked softly.
“When I found out I have nothing to live for,” Harry replied. “If I didn’t have these goals to aim for I would have just let you kill me already.”
Voldemort was thoughtful for a moment before he said. “I’ve wronged you, Harry, why do you expect me to believe you no longer wish revenge on me?”
Harry was expecting the question and he answered it with the truth. “Because you might have wronged me, but it was orchestrated by someone else and I know that now.”
Voldemort looked utterly baffled and Harry couldn’t help but grin at the other wizard’s expression despite the sadness he was currently feeling. The dark lord opened his mouth to speak once more but Harry cut him off not wanting to talk anymore just now.
“You have my offer, it’s up to you to think it over and decide what you want to do. I’ll be back tomorrow night, have the contracts written up for me to look over and sign when I arrive if you agree.” With that he used a spell Moody had taught him once to block the senses of anybody in a room for 15 seconds to cover his escape and slipped out of the room.
It wasn’t long before Harry was back in Grimauld place, in his bed, thinking over what he’d done that night. Moody wasn’t a loss for him, the man was a part of Dumbledore’s little plan for Harry and deserved whatever he got. Now that the plan was set in motion however there was no going back and Harry had to decide how he felt about it all. He was about to go against everything he’d been taught to believe since he’d entered the wizarding world and help his enemy defeat those he was supposed to be saving. He was voluntarily giving the dark lord the power to control what he did until the day he died and that could mean anything. He honestly wasn’t sure how to feel about that, all he knew for certain was that he would do whatever was necessary to see it through. He would keep those he loved safe, he would keep his promise to the only man who’d been brave enough to oppose the headmaster and tell Harry the truth and he would have his revenge, no matter what it took.
XX
End of chapter
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