Father

Year Six

This will not be a normal year. Draco and Harry are still glaring daggers and can't speak without shouting. Lucius alternates sending Harry to Sirius and Draco to the Weasleys to keep them from killing each other. Neville Longbottom's finally allowed a party of his own and given a wand of his own, and Draco skips Harry's party to go to Neville's. Ginny skips Harry's party to go to Neville's, as does Ron and Hermione, though Ron stopped coming ages ago and Hermione wasn't really invited anyway.

Narcissa and Lucius try to comfort both boys in turn. Draco's put out because he got Es and an A and only four Os, and Hermione got two Es and ten Os. Harry isn't too bothered about his marks as long as he passed, but he doesn't seem to care about anything now and that worries Lucius. Lucius can't fix this with ice cream and Quidditch, and he doesn't know this happens to parents with teenagers. He doesn't know there are bigger things to worry about.

Bertha Jorkins has returned to Albania and gotten herself lost in the forest. This is a problem for everyone, a big problem. The phantom shadow of the Dark Lord has been waiting for this opportunity.

Dumbledore has made a mistake and grabbed a cursed ring. He's dying now, a master of death, and he still doesn't know if he can trust Harry Potter. There's nothing else to do, the boy's scar has been twinging again. Someone must be told, Harry must be told, before there's no one left to tell him.

So a week after the boy is back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore calls him to his office, and tells him everything (almost). He tells him of Dark Lords and prophecies and horcruxes. He can't afford to coddle and spare feelings with time so short. Harry, who never in his life had to face anything scarier than his godfather, is now told he must kill or be killed by the most powerful dark wizard in memory, the one who killed his parents, and he's terrified.

He runs back to his brother, broken hearts and tirades forgotten. He needs help! He's going to die if Draco doesn't help him! Draco's skeptical at first, but he sees the fear in Harry's eyes is genuine and knows he must help his brother. He and Hermione give up Muggle Studies and Divination, so they can study horcruxes. They'll help Harry if he promises to leave Hermione alone, and he's quick to promise. He returns to the Slytherin dorm, shaken, and Pansy has the story out of him before he remembers it's supposed to be a secret. But she wants to help, anything for Harry, so it's just as well.

Hermione and Draco need to have a talk. Her parents are concerned. She's been dating the same boy since she was twelve, and they think she's rather young to be settled. And she's thought about it, and maybe it would be better if they tried dating other people for a while. And Draco doesn't understand.

Did I do something?

No, no, it's not that. It's just something I think would be good for us.

What did I do? I'm really sorry about the dueling club. I am.

It's not that.

Tell me what I did, then. Please, I'm very sorry, whatever it was.

Draco, this isn't about you.

How is splitting up with me not about me?!

Hermione sighs and tries to explain again. Draco still doesn't understand. But for once, sulks and tears and pleas don't move her.

Ginny and Neville don't understand either. They'd been looking forward to a year of double dates in Hogsmeade with their best friends. And now, Draco follows Hermione like a beaten dog, while she claims they're not together anymore, and they're both keeping secrets with Harry Potter and Pansy Parkinson. Madness!

Lord Voldemort now crawls and curses his way back to England. He needs a servant, a loyal servant, and he finds one in the home of Barty Crouch. Foolish Barty who rescued his son from Azkaban only to imprison him in his kitchen.

Dumbledore sets the horcrux squad up with an office in the room of requirement, stocked with the Pensieve and memories and every book they could need on dark magic and Voldemort and the founders. And after classes, the four of them meet there and read and review and compare notes, and when Dumbledore can find a new memory, he shows it to them.

Since Dumbledore is dying anyway, and he doesn't want to lose Snape to a cursed position, he takes on the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher himself. The Dueling Club carries on, but it's less popular now, and Harry and Draco have been banned from it.

Together everyday now, Harry can't help but notice that Hermione shakes off Draco when he reaches out for her, and when he asks his brother about it, Draco whimpers about her wanting other people.

And Harry tries to be sympathetic, but a dead hope rekindles. He screws up his courage and asks Hermione for a Hogsmeade date. And she says no, but he asks again. No fights, I promise, but I'm other people. Please give me a try, and the please catches her. A try, a trial, don't expect anything.

And Harry tries to feel triumphant, but the joy's rather gone out of it now. Hermione encourages Draco to ask someone out too, mostly so he's less likely to see and raise a scene. He doesn't want to. But he can't tell Hermione no, so he asks a third year Hufflepuff he has no interest in.

"A third year? Don't you think that's inappropriate."

"You can't tell me to date other people, and then tell me who to date," he sniffs back.

And no one's really happy at Hogsmeade that weekend, except the third year who got a free meal and bragging rights. Harry's finally got Hermione alone and can't figure out what to do now he's done it. She wants to talk politics, house-elves, and social justice and doesn't like anything he says on the subject. He tries talking Quidditch, but she doesn't follow any teams. He remembers it took Draco two years and a dementor to get a first kiss out of her and decides it's not worth waiting for. He complains to Pansy, who kisses him for getting over Granger, and thank goodness that nonsense is done. You only wanted her because Draco did, anyway.

Draco is not happy to learn of the date but is happy it went poorly. He stops whining and starts planning. Besides this Voldemort problem is bigger, and if he doesn't feel like killing his brother, no one else should either.

Memories of Gaunts, memories of Riddles, books on founders, books on horcruxes. In classes, between classes, in the room, and one day Pansy wears the gold locket with a green S that Harry gave her, and Hermione looks up from her book and stares at it.

"What are you staring at, Granger?"

"Where did you get that locket?"

"Harry, gave it to me," Pansy says bright as a button and almost as sharp.

"Put it on the table."

Pansy protests, but Hermione insists, and the boys have learned not to argue with her. An examination, Slytherin's mark found, the Gaunt heirloom, Merope's last possession. Harry, where did you get it? Found it at Sirius's.

It won't open. It won't. They pry and poke and hammer, until one of them remembers Slytherin was a Parselmouth. Tell it to open, Harry. And Harry does, and it does, and a nasty eye stares out at them and Pansy shrieks and Hermione thinks to summon Dumbledore. And Dumbledore comes down and puts out the eye with the elder wand.

Three broken horcruxes are lined up on the shelves now. Do you think that's it? Did we get all of them? But who can say? Who can know? And Dumbledore must go looking for the answer.

A second Hogsmeade weekend, and Hermione's determined to try again. Someone better this time. Maybe a friend, someone she can laugh with. Neville's with Ginny, but Ron's a decent fellow. So she asks him. And once Draco tells him "go ahead" and tries to look unconcerned, Ron up for giving it a try. And the second date is twice as awkward as the first. Ron's not convinced Draco's really disinterested, and when Hermione tries to talk theory with him, he just gives her a blank stare. So they give up and share a butterbeer and go back home. Draco listens to Ron's account with feigned disinterest and plans a plan.

Meanwhile, Harry's out with all the Slytherins. Pansy is on his arm. Other girls are trying to catch his eye, and he decides being over that Hermione thing isn't so bad. To top the day, Lucius appears and asks to take Harry to lunch, just the two of them. Harry's happy to have some time with Father that Draco isn't getting too, so he farewells to his friends and promises to meet up with them later.

Which would be good and fine, except Lucius is at the Ministry, and Harry's walking off alone with the Dark Lord's servant, polyjuiced to look like Lucius. Why take months laying an elaborate trap, when Harry will walk off so willingly with the man he calls Father?

A quick stunner, a portkey, and off to the grave yard. No, let the boy sleep. No need to wake him. This is not a Harry Potter who has thrice defied the Dark Lord and needs to be publicly bested. This is a pampered teen raised by a Lucius Malfoy, sorted into Slytherin, with a faint resemblance to Voldemort himself at that age. What happened when he was two might very well have been a fluke, more the fault of the mother than the child.

A dark ceremony follows. Blood taken, bones drawn from the earth, Barty Crouch willingly severs his own hand to bring the Dark Lord back to his full form. Harry is tended, taken to a bed, and there the Dark Lord sits and watches and waits for him to wake.

Lucius meanwhile has been contacted. Where did you take Harry Potter? He's expected back at school and his friends saw you walk off with him.

Nonsense! But I've been in London all day. I haven't-- And realization dawns and brings with it an icy stab of fear. Lucius raises the Aurors office. Harry's been taken! Kidnapped! He sends owls to everyone with eyes. Find, Harry! Find him! An award! Anyone with information, anyone who can bring him home!

Back at Riddle House, Harry opens his eyes. He's on a stale, dusty bed in a strange room. His last memory is of Lucius with his arm around his shoulder.

A cold, high voice from his nightmares greets him, "Harry Potter. Wake up, Harry. Face me."

Harry's up and wide-eyed and searching for his wand, but it's gone. This black robed monster man with a serpent's face is watching him with slitted red eyes. And he doesn't want to believe Voldemort is back, but who else could this be?

"Relax, Harry." The Dark Lord sooths. "There's no need for us to be enemies."

But Harry's not convinced, not at all. "You killed my parents!"

"That was war, Harry. Understand, they were trying to kill me too."

"You tried to kill me!"

"A mistake. A horrible mistake." The snake-like face attempts an apologetic smile. "One I've been paying for ever since. For fifteen years, I've paid for it, and now I'd like to make it right. Let us be friends, you and I."

Friends?! Friends with Lord Voldemort?? Friends with his parents' murderer? Friends with the man he was sworn to kill? Harry shakes his head. He can't accept it.

"Lucius was my friend," Voldemort purrs, testing him.

Harry finds his shudders worse, and his head shakes harder. "No, no, he wouldn't..." he begins, but there is that last memory. Lucius's arm around his shoulder, and now he's here at the mercy of Lord Voldemort. And Harry fights the urge to cry.

Lord Voldemort is the master of reshaping broken hearts. Harry has been warned of his magical prowess, but not of his power to manipulate. He knows of Voldemort's horcruxes but not his silver tongue. "I don't know what you've been told about me, Harry, but Lucius understood the higher cause. He was devoted to the old ways, and I had hoped he'd raise you in them as well."

And Harry does know something of tradition and knows his Father is fond of it. But he wouldn't. He can't. Yet, Harry's been reading history books and knows of the murders and vanishings from the first war. And his heart breaks to think Lucius was a part of it. Despair and hopelessness threaten to overtake him. But Voldemort seems reluctant to kill him, and this gives him some courage. "The war was your fault! All your fault! Why can't you leave everything alone?! What's so wrong with Muggle-borns! I have friends who...If you want to be my friend, why don't you just go away! Let me go! Please!"

Voldemort listens, bony white finger tapping his lipless mouth. How to convince the boy? He has too much fire, too much compassion, too much love to lure him with greed and power. There's no darkness in him. "Harry, let me show you something. Lucius has sheltered you too much, I think." He stands and offers his arm. Harry, realizing he's wandless and must wait for an opportunity, takes it. Voldemort apparates him to a Muggle alley and points across the street. "Look there, Harry. In that building doctors, who are supposed to be like our healers, kill Muggle babies in their mother's wombs before they can draw their first breath. That is what Muggles do with unwanted children."

And Harry recoils. He's never heard anything so horrid.

The world dissolves and this time Voldemort takes him to a museum of death. He casts a glamour so they won't be noticed. He shows him pictures of mangled bodies in piles, cold lifeless pictures of death and torture. "This is what Muggles call the holocaust. This is what Muggles do to each other. This is the world of my own childhood."

Harry shudders and Voldemort takes him to another hall of death and pictures of burnings and hangings. "The witch hunts. This is what Muggles do to us if given the opportunity. Didn't you wonder why we must hide?"

The Dark Lord shows Harry more and more of the worst of humanity. Muggles men who won't let women show their faces. Other places where they sell them for sex. Here they keep each other as slaves and have children fight their wars. Look here when even away from all that, they take drugs and destroy themselves. And none of this is new, none of this seems to change.

They return at last to Riddle House. Harry shaken to the core with the horrors he's seen and as frightened of Muggles as he is the Voldemort. "You see now why we call them mudbloods. You see the dirt they come from."

"But Hermione..." Harry can't believe she's of this world. "My mother?"

"Some overcome their origins," Voldemort says to help him reconcile. "But it's difficult. Very difficult." Why, Harry, you're shaking. Let us call your Father. Let us bring Lucius here.

Lucius has returned to his wife and manor in despair. The mark has returned. He fears what that means. He fears what it means for Harry most of all. And now the mark burns. The Dark Lord, thought long dead is calling for him.

"You must go, Lucius. You must go."

Lucius goes quickly, hoping to find his missing son and dreading to find him too.

Barty Crouch Jr., another ghost thought long dead, leads Lucius inside an old manor house. There's Lord Voldemort seated in an old high backed chair as though it were a throne. And Harry, alive, but pale and haunted. Lucius approaches carefully, wanting to run to Harry and embrace him, but not daring. "Harry, are you injured?" he asks in a measured voice which betrays nothing.

Harry shakes his head ever so slightly, and Lucius turns to face the Dark Lord. He kneels, knowing it will go better for them if he does. "My Lord?"

Voldemort is not fooled, but he knows it's better to let Lucius think he can't read him. "Go to your son, Lucius."

And Lucius is quick to join Harry on the sofa, to put his arm around him, but Harry cringes at his touch and this wounds Lucius more than the rest. But this is not the time for questions.

"Peace, Lucius," the Dark Lord purrs. "Harry has come face to face with the darkness of this world, but I have no wish to harm him. Let us talk. Let us be friends. Please tell Harry that you were one of my Death Eaters, that the history books have warped the noble world we were making."

And what can Lucius say? To deny it could be deadly. "Please, Harry, I couldn't tell you. The Ministry..."

"He has my wand," Harry says.

"To be returned shortly," Voldemort reassures them. "After we talk. But we must talk. I hope you see now, Harry, why Muggles are the problem. Why your Father has shielded you from them. Look, Harry, how Lucius cares for you. You must forgive him. He was only trying to protect you."

Harry wants to believe that, so he begins too. Lucius's hand on his shoulder is warm and promises protection. Harry only wants to go home and be safe again. Lucius takes the Dark Lord's words as encouragement and hugs Harry tighter, whispers a reassurance. It will be all right.

"What's going to happen?" Harry asks, eyeing the Dark Lord cautiously.

Voldemort smiles. "That is up to you, Harry," he says, hissing silk. "You defeated me. How would you make the world right again? How can I help you?"

And Harry hadn't expected this. The Dark Lord deferring to him? Offering to follow him? Lucius had not expected this either, but he isn't displeased by it. Hope begins to grow inside him.

Harry thinks of his happy wizarding home, with the warm bed and the library and the peacocks, and feels pity for those trapped in Muggle ones. What must they endure? "There's a book at Hogwarts that records magical births," he says cautiously. "If Muggle-borns can overcome their birth, the trouble must be in the raising more than the blood. Wouldn't it be better if we just took Muggle-borns before they're tainted and put them with proper wizarding families?"

For a long moment, no one speaks, then the Dark Lord smiles. To have been spared his own childhood in that cold orphanage appeals to him. A wonderful idea, Harry. Fantastic.

Lucius smiles with relief, and Harry is encouraged. "I don't want a war. I don't think it's right to kill anyone. Not even Muggles, but I'm glad I was adopted. And I think it would be better, for everyone. The Muggles aren't equipped to deal with magical children. Lucius told me how happy my aunt was to be rid of me."

Brilliant, Harry, brilliant.

Harry has another worry though. "But, the prophecy?"

Voldemort waves his hand dismissively. "That prophecy caused all the trouble to start with. Ignore it. We make our own fate, Harry. Great wizards like us make our own fate."

And Harry could collapse from relief. He doesn't have to kill. He doesn't have to be killed. Voldemort and Lucius speak eagerly now, eager to embrace this compromise. There are details to workout. Things must proceed cautiously. Everyone loves Harry, so he should be their mouthpiece, their leader. Let's make him Minister of Magic. With his fame, it should be easy. And Harry can't help but catch their excitement. Him? Minister? He had never been hungry for power, but think of all the good he could do. Think how much better he could make the world.

But there's another problem. Your horcruxes.

Lucius's ear perk up. This is not a word he knows. Harry has been keeping something from him. But it's clear the Dark Lord knows this word. Before the Dark Lord can eject Lucius from the room, Harry spills a story about a diary destroyed, a ring, a locket...and for the first time, the Dark Lord feels a chill of fear. But that is all, Harry tells him. They know of no others. Our secret then, Harry. Our secret. Lucius is burning with curiosity, but he dare not risk more of the Dark Lord's ire. He knows he'll have to explain how Dumbledore got the diary.

Will you be okay? Harry asks, sounding genuinely concerned for his new friend.

Perhaps it was this pity that saved Lucius from a Crucio. I will be fine, Voldemort assures him. Do not worry. Just keep our secret.

The Death Eaters are called. They are told Harry's plan and encouraged to call it brilliant. Some of them do embrace it eagerly. Even if they have doubts, they must tuck them away. Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter standing together make a convincing argument.

Snape comes too, expecting to find Harry dead or in peril and a Dark Lord full of vengeance. But here's Harry alive, and Lord Voldemort deferring to him. He's more cautious, but he must confess he likes this new plan. He thinks how things would be different if Lily had been raised by wizards, if he'd never had reason to be split from her, if the word "mudblood" was banned from their vocabulary. To make Harry minister? To make it all legal and policy? Yes, even Severus Snape can see merit in this plan. A Dark Lord who has mellowed. A Dark Lord who will protect Harry and help him. While part of him knows Lily would never approve, she is gone. Except her eyes, which shine with hope from Harry's face. Yes, Severus Snape is once more a true Death Eater.

But appearances must be maintained.

Harry must be returned to Hogwarts, quickly, and with a plausible story for his kidnapping. A scapegoat is needed and hastily chosen. Barty, you will do me another great service, and in the process get your vengeance on your father. Barty's not keen to return to Azkaban, but the thought of taking his father with him consoles him. Be patient, Barty. We will make Harry Minister, and then he can grant pardons.

Soon the newspapers are running the story of how Lucius Malfoy rescued his ward Harry Potter from the infamous Barty Crouch Jr. It's a story rife with scandal. Respectable Barty Crouch senior must now go to Azkaban for freeing his Death Eater son. Crouch and Jr. are cast as villains most foul, but Lucius, Lucius is the hero of the piece, though he does his best to insist it was a team effort. Harry was gallant at just the right moment.

Draco's jubilant at first to get his brother back, relieved he has not been hurt. But as the weeks wear on, it's clear Harry has changed. He's no longer interested in hunting horcruxes. He's no longer afraid, not of Voldemort, not of anything. "I just have a feeling everything's going to be all right now," Harry dismisses him. "We destroyed three, surely that's all."

Draco and Hermione try to reason with him, but Pansy's quite happy to be done with it. "Harry's decided to go into politics," she tells them proudly.

And this isn't like Harry at all. Draco writes Lucius. Lucius writes back. Not worried. He's proud of Harry's new found ambition. He's a Slytherin after all. Draco appeals to Snape, but the Potions Master merely suggest Harry was a bit more traumatized by his kidnapping than he lets on. Draco tries to tell Hermione, but while she not impressed, neither is she overly concerned. "Harry's always been a bit of prat, hasn't he?"

She's more worried about upcoming exams and finding a date for the third Hogsmeade weekend. "Maybe, he's right. Three is a significant magical number. Maybe we did get all of them."

Dumbledore is more willing to listen, more concerned. Snape revealed his renewed Dark Mark to him before attending the meeting and was therefore forced to reveal the Dark Lord's return. He lied, however, about what happened there, pretends Harry has no knowledge of Voldemort. When Dumbledore told Harry of the Dark Lord's return, the boy had feigned concern, but Draco's words make him suspicious. He takes the Malfoy boy into his confidence. He had wanted to tell the whole wizarding world of Voldemort's return, but he must lure a coward back to Hogwarts to gain a memory. And now he's not sure he can trust Severus Snape. He gives Draco permission to tell Hermione, but no one else, not yet.

Hermione is told and agrees to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas, but she wants to focus on exams now. A date finds her this time. Cormac McClaggen takes her to Madam Puddifoot's, and by the time she's escaped, she's almost ready to swear off boys altogether. She finds Draco at the Three Broomsticks with Neville and Ginny and tries to pretend nothing happened, but she feels much safer sitting with them. Ginny and Neville say again she's being silly, but Draco doesn't say a word as he puts her hair back in order. Hermione's starting to feel pretty silly, but pride won't let her say it.

Dumbledore is still hunting memories, slowed down by teaching classes. He knows he needs Horace Slughorn, and he's willing now to risk Snape in the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. After exams, he's free to recruit the old professor. Yes, a raise, Horace. Just think, Harry Potter wants to be Minister of Magic, and you can collect him.

Harry goes home for Christmas. One week with Lucius and Narcissa. One week with Sirius is the plan. The Malfoys and the Parkinsons have been chosen to set an example. Death Eater wives become pregnant with pillows. Narcissa hates this, but she loves Lucius and knows what refusing would mean. So she plays along and pretends to be happy.

Harry has cautiously tested his idea on some of the Slytherins and Pansy thought it quite noble and practical, so he tries testing it out on Sirius too. Sirius is horrified and thinks Harry has gotten quite the wrong idea about Muggles. "But I asked Hermione," Harry protests. "She says there are such things as abortion and holocausts and slavery and such!"

And Sirius can't deny that. "But there's so much more, Harry. Look we have Dark wizards in our history too. There's some good in us and in Muggles too. Only real difference is that we have magic, and they don't." Sirius decides it's time for Harry to meet the Muggle side of his family. This turns out to be a huge mistake. Other than taking more care with who he tells his idea to, all Harry learns from the Dursleys is that Muggles are indeed quite awful, even when they're not killing each other.

Sirius confides in Dumbledore, and Dumbledore confides in Sirius. Voldemort is back and the Order of the Phoenix must be called together once more.

Back at Hogwarts, Draco and Hermione try to find something helpful in the room of requirement, but they've looked through all these book and aren't quite sure what they should be looking for. On the third day, Draco requires the room to put the books and table and horcruxes away and fills it instead with flowers and a loveseat. He borrows a guitar from the Muggle Studies class and asks Hermione if he can sing her some songs he's learned on it. By the time he's done singing "Yesterday" and "Time in a Bottle", they're back together, and that is that.

Because he can't trust Harry and can't trust Snape, Dumbledore decides to tell Moody everything, absolutely everything, and pray he can make use of the information.

Break is over and everyone's at Hogwarts. Neville and Ginny are delighted to find Draco and Hermione together again. Harry has big news for Draco. Narcissa is going to have a baby, sooner rather than later, and Draco can't believe it, doesn't want to. He feels like he's being replaced.

A new teacher for potions, and Snape teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. The new potions master has a Club, and Harry, Draco, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny are all invited. Harry's ready to play politics now and doesn't miss a meeting. Draco and Hermione get a mission from Dumbledore to retrieve a memory, the real memory. Harry realizes Pansy isn't popular enough to help him become Minister and turns her over to date Cho Chang, which only surprises Pansy.

Draco and Hermione get Dumbledore's permission to bring Neville and Ginny in on the horcrux squad. They're two down and Neville might have been the chosen one, and Ginny's top in the dueling club. Draco and Hermione decide on a frontal assault with Slughorn, and between Draco's charms and Hermione's reasoning, they get the memory out of him much faster than Harry could have. (Hermione can save the liquid luck she won for later.)

Harry is on a mission too, but for Voldemort rather than Dumbledore. When the headmaster is absent for a few days, he and Snape sneak up to copy names from the magical book.

The first few infants are kidnapped, but the kidnappings appear only in Muggle newspapers, which only Dumbledore reads. Narcissa and Pansy's mother are blessed with new babies. He's suspicious but has no proof and can only pass on his suspicions to Moody. He tries to warn the Ministry, but they won't listen. Voldemort back and stealing babies? Blood purists taking in Muggle-borns? Ridiculous! He warns the Horcrux squad, gets their solemn vow not to give up. Not on their mission and not on Harry.

Then Dumbledore dies, more or less of natural causes. He's a master of death now, meeting it as an old friend, but not without regrets.

As the sixth year ends, Harry Potter is Voldemort's man. Draco, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny are left with the weighty knowledge that there are probably seven pieces of soul, and until they can find the remaining three horcruxes, they are fighting an invincible foe. The Order scrambles to organize under the leadership of Alastor Moody, and Lucius finds himself bottle feeding a Muggle-born child.

No, this has not been a normal year.