quot;And lastly, our fourth Champion. From Hogwarts Mr. Harry Potter and Ms. Ahsoka Tano."

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Taking one last steadying breath, Harry led Ahsoka through the doors and into the hall. Harry was expecting a fair share of gasps to greet them. But instead they were met with only silence, the only sound in the entire hall being the slow and steady steps of Harry and Ahsoka as they made their way through the stunned crowd towards the dance floor where the other champions waited. Finding their spot, Harry pivoted and reached around so that he was holding Ahsoka's hand in his left and had his right resting onto the small of her back.

The music seemed to take an eternity to start as Harry was standing there with Ahsoka in his arms and the eyes of every student from three different schools staring at them in shock and confusion. He almost breathed a sigh of relief as the music started to flow as it forced him to take his mind off of the crowd as he stepped first with his left, and then his right before leading Ahsoka through the basic waltz that he knew.

'This is nice.' Harry thought as he stepped back and twirled Ahsoka around in a tight circle before pulling her close once more. His nervousness slowly dying with each step. Ahsoka's lips twitched upwards as he spun her around. Her joy was so powerful and contagious that Harry felt himself smiling along with her. 'Whoever thinks that dancing is stupid is a bloody idiot!'

All too soon the orchestra reached its crescendo and music ended almost abruptly. All around them the students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang applauded politely a few of the more brave ones stepped out onto the dance floor with the champions as they waited for the next song to begin. "Do– do you want to stay out here? With me?" Harry asked the beauty in his arms.

Ahsoka, after casting a quick glance around, nodded. "I would like that Harry."

The music started up again, this time a slightly faster tune that turned the dance floor into a mass of swirling and moving pairs. Moving quickly, Harry started to lead her through a few basic steps, trying to keep them from bumping into anyone. 'Not an easy task.' He cursed as they just barely managed to avoid a Durmstrang student and his date as they flew past, completely obvious to anyone else on the floor. 'Although it might be easier if Ahsoka wasn't so soft…so warm…the light scent of perfume and…who the hell am I kidding. I wouldn't change this moment for the world!'

Harry had no idea how long the two of them were out on the floor together with one another. After a time everything just seemed to blur together. There were classical songs where the two danced arm in arm with each other. Then there were the slow songs where Harry's heart threatened to beat out of his chest as she leaned into him.

Then there were the more modern and fast paced songs where Ahsoka would let go a dance in a manner that made his heart stop as all of his blood circulated to another part of his body. Harry wasn't aware of much going on around him during this time, but the few times he did manage to get a look around he was glad to see that all of the rest of his friends that came to the dance seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Hell, even Ron spent a lot of time on the dance floor with a positively beaming Tracey. The only person he couldn't find was Daphne. And while that did concern him slightly he pushed it to the back of his mind. 'Daphne's more than capable of taking care of herself.'

"I think I'm ready for that break now Harry." Ahsoka breathed against his shoulder as yet another slower paced song came to an end. "I need a drink and I think I could eat a bantha whole…so where's this food table I keep seeing people disappear too?"

Not trusting himself fully to speak, Harry nodded back into her shoulder and the two separated from one another and moved off of the dance floor and towards where the buffet table had been set up. Thankfully Ahsoka had been on Earth long enough to identify most of the food that'd been laid out for them, but there were still a few dishes that he could tell she was trying to decipher just what they were before giving up and moving on.

Once they both had a plate of food they made their way along the outskirts of the Great Hall turned into a ballroom and towards the table that'd been reserved for the champions and their dates for the night. Hermione and Viktor were both sitting at the table as were Bill and Fleur. Not that Harry could blame them, both couples had danced just as much as Harry and Ahsoka. Remembering the pointers that his godfather had given him, Harry set his food down on the table first before holding Ahsoka's chair for her.

"Finally had enough you two?" Bill asked as he leaned back and sipped on drink.

"For now," Harry nodded, lightly picking at his food. "I'm up for going back out there after we eat if Ahsoka is."

"Oh, I definitely am."Ahsoka smiled as she speared a small piece of meat.

The group fell into an easy silence as they picked at their food. By the time they all cleared their plates Susan and Cedric appeared seemingly from nowhere and took their seats. Small talk floated around the table as the four couples took their time to rest before heading back onto the dance floor.

"-came running out of his tent, screaming at the top of his lungs that he loved her and couldn't live without her." Bill laughed, rubbing at the corner of his eye as he told them of one of his many "misadventures" during his time as a curse breaker.

"And then what happened?" Hermione asked clearly enthralled, much to her dates chagrin, by Bill's anecdote.

"He ran right up to the nearest cactus and gave it a big ol' hug and kiss." Bill laughed as everyone else at the table, even Ahsoka laughed. "We were picking needles out of the poor bloke for two days straight. And to this day, none of us have been able to figure out just what that dame had slipped into his drink after he copped a feel. But whatever it was, it sent a very clear message across the campsite."

As the laughter started to die down, Bill whipped his mouth with his napkin before setting it over his plate and rising to his feet. "Now if you all will excuse us, I've been most neglectful of my duties this evening. So…Mademoiselle Delacour, would you please do me the honor of joining me for a dance?"

"I would love to Bill." Fleur responded with a bright grin as she graciously accepted his offered hand, allowing the eldest Weasley to lead her away from the table.

The two had only taken a few steps onto the dancefloor before Viktor rose from his seat and offered his hand to Hermione. "My lady Hermione, would do me the honor of this dance?"

"I'd love too," Hermione responded, taking his hand and allowing him to lead her away.

"Well," Susan shrugged as she turned back around from where she'd been watching Fleur and Bill, "now that those four are – oh no."

Following Susan's line of sight, Harry nearly groaned aloud as the twins, Fred and George, plopped down in the recently vacated seats, pulling their dates Alicia and Katie along with them. "Harry Potter! Son of Prongs! Heir to the Marauders! We are unworthy!"

"Okay," Ahsoka whispered out of the corner of her mouth while leaning over towards him. "Why are these two groveling?"

"With Fred and George…who knows? And these two lovely ladies are Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet and Merlin only knows why they agreed to actually date these two miscreants." Harry introduced them, pointing at both twins and their dates respectively.

"Hey! That's not nice!" Fred cried.

"Yeah," George nodded. "After all I'm Fred and he's George! I'm the pretty one after all."

"Are you sure? I thought that I was Fred today."

"No I'm pretty sure I was Fred today."

"No, you're with Alicia, so that means that you're George today."

"That's right! Fred with Katie and George wit– ouch!"

Both of the twins were cut off rather abruptly as Katie and Alicia proceeded to smack their respective dates upside the head. "Knock that off, both of you." Alicia sighed. "You know how much we hate it when you try to pull this shite."

"And besides, you two already tried to pull that whole switching trick to see if we would notice." Katie continued, wiggling her eyebrows. "And you two know the price for that kind of stunt. So don't even joke about it."

Both twins flinched as their hands went involuntarily down to their laps. 'Really, really don't want to know.' "So," Harry sighed. "Did you two have a goal in coming over here?"

Both twins recovered enough to smirk at him. "We came over to congratulate you on an excellent prank tonight Harry!"

"A prank?" Ahsoka repeated flatly. "You two take me, a non-human, being here with Harry as some kind of joke?"

Realizing the dangerously thin ice they were on, the twins back waving their hands and back tracking as fast as they could. "No no no! Not at all! We're all for you and Harry being together! Spread the love around we always say!"

"No, the joke is on the Wizarding World that Harry just unintentionally pulled off." George added quickly. "We might not like those pureblood dickheads that like to think they control everything in our society-"

"-but we do understand politics. Probably better than our father would like to think we do." Fred continued on seamlessly. "It was expected by the purebloods for Harry to bring a pureblood date to this event. Especially as he is a Champion and more so one of the most eligible bachelors in all of Europe. But instead-"

"He brings the lovely Ms. Tano instead." George smiled, raising his cup. "Basically...with just one date Harry has stood up and said 'Fuck You' to all of those uptight purebloods. And they're going to be trying to figure out just what the hell happened for weeks!"

"So…bravo Harry and Ahsoka! The new power couple of the wizarding world!" The twins finished as one, raising their mugs to him and Ahsoka. "And we wish you two the very best as you stick it to those uptight pureblood idiots! Present company excluded of course."

Raising his glass, Harry accepted their toast and took a slow drink. "Hmm…a bit mild wouldn't you say so George?" Fred asked as he looked down at the glass in his hand.

"I quite agree Fred." George nodded before reaching down to his ankle and pulling out a small silver flask. "Good thing we brought some extra flavoring then isn't it?"

"You two snuck firewhiskey into a school ball?" Cedric asked, clearly floored as the twins poured a measure of the whiskey into their own glasses before repeating the process with Katie's and Alicia's.

"Of course they did." Katie chuckled. "Why do you think Alicia and I agreed to go with them? They always know how to have a good time."

"What's the matter Cedric? If you want a splash of flavoring all you need to do is ask." Fred smirked, playing with the flask in his hand.

Cedric glared at the twins for a full minute before holding out his own cup. "Ah, what the hell. This is my last year anyway. Might as well have some fun."

"Now that's what we like to hear!" George smirked as he tipped a fair amount of the whiskey into Cedric's glass. "And how about our house champion? Care for a little 'flavoring' Harry?"

Swirling his drink, Harry shrugged and pushed his glass towards George who put in a decent splash of the alcohol into his drink. Ahsoka stared at them for a moment before holding out her own glass towards the twins. Fred smirked widely and added a good amount, slightly more than what Harry was given, to her cup. As Harry pulled his cup back, a fourth cup was pushed towards the twins.

"I– I don't know about this Susan." Fred said slowly. "Don't want your Aunt finding out about this."

"And if you don't add some right now, McGonagall will find out about what you two have right here and now." Susan responded archly as she motioned with her cup.

Touché Ms. Bones." George chuckled as he reached passed his twin and add just a small splash to Susan's drink.

Swirling his cup around a few times to mix his drink, Harry took a brief sniff of the mixture before taking a big gulp and nearly coughed up a lung as the warm liquid burned on its way down his throat. "Bloody hell!" He coughed, trying desperately to not be too loud so as to not draw attention to their table.

"Well then don't drink it so fast idiot." Ahsoka smiled before taking a much smaller sip. But despite her much more controlled portion, Ahsoka's face still turned slightly red and she couldn't help but cough slightly.

"Ah, rookies." Katie laughed before upending her cup and taking all of it in one go. 'Good Merlin…she had more in there than I did!' "Well what are you waiting for Fred? I thought you were going to show me a good time tonight!"

The drinks flowed at a fairly steady pace after that with Fred and George adding quick splashes to each drink as often as they could without being caught by the chaperons. Not that the chaperons were doing much good anyway.

Hagrid was quite enthralled with Madame Maxime and was keeping her completely occupied. Moody was off in a corner completely drunk. McGonagall and Dumbledore were dancing with one another on and off so were distracted as well. And Karkaroff didn't seem to give two shits either way. Sirius had actually walked by and caught them as Fred was pouring Harry another splash, but instead of taking their drinks away, he simply handed Fred another flask with instructions to "not let the young ones get too blitzed".

After more than a dozen drinks Harry was still feeling good so he offered his hand to Ahsoka so that they could dance. But it was when he got up that the alcohol finally caught up to him. 'Good Merlin…what the…I was fine just a second ago…when did everything start tilting.'

"You alright Harry?" Ahsoka asked, her words slightly slurred and uneven.

"Yup." Harry smirked as he all but pulled Ahsoka onto the dance floor. "Now come on! I promised you a good time and I intend to fulfill that promise!"

Ahsoka laughed as he spun her around and around completely off beat to the music around them as they made fools of themselves. Maybe it was because of the alcohol in his blood, but Harry found that he didn't care if he looked like a fool or not. All that mattered was that Ahsoka was laughing. And right there and then he vowed that he would do anything to keep the smile on her face. Then a snide voice behind him proceeded to do just that.

"Well Potter…and here I thought that you couldn't disgrace the name of an Ancient and Noble House any more than you already have. But here you are…with…her. How disgraceful. Your ancestors are more than likely rolling over in the graves out of disgust."

Harry didn't even try to hide his groan as he turned around and glared at the one who interrupted them. 'Of course…I was having far too good of a night for this little ferret not to interfere.'

Standing just a pace away from Harry and Ahsoka was a sneering Draco Malfoy with a glaring Pansy hanging off of his arm. He tried to just ignore the two, but unfortunately his vision snapped back to Pansy before he forced himself to look away. 'Good Merlin…if she leans over at all she'll fall out of that dress! In fact…I think she already is!'

"Ugh, just go away Malfoy," Harry said, waving Draco off. "I'm trying to have a pleasant evening here."

"What's the matter Potter?" Malfoy smirked, tightening his arm around Pansy. "See something that you like? I bet you're regretting taking that creature now that you see-"

Spinning away from Ahsoka and snapped his wand into his hand before stepping forward so he was face to face with Malfoy, his wand pointed at the boy's "family jewels". Everything happened in less than a fraction of a second, leaving Draco ashen faced and trembling as he felt Harry's wand press into him. "Watch your tongue Draco." Harry growled, his control slipping as his voice vibrated with the Force. "One more word…and I will end the Malfoy line here and now."

Malfoy's eyes widened in fear and Pansy took a step back and actually shivered. "H– How dare you." Malfoy growled. "When my fath-"

"Isn't here. And if that's your best defense Draco then you're far more pathetic than I ever imagined." Harry growled, his control slipping even further as he jabbed his wand into Malfoy. "You can't do anything other than cry out for your father. Well guess what? Your father isn't here. And Snape is too far away to protect your scrawny pale ass. You make another comment like that about Ahsoka…and I'll make you beg for death before leaving you in the Forbidden Forest as a nice midnight snack for the acromantula there. Understand?"

Malfoy, now completely white, nodded vigorously. "Splendid." Harry smiled, stepping back and retracting his wand back into its sheath. "I'm glad we could reach an understanding. Now run along little ferret. I don't want to see you again tonight."

Malfoy spun around, grabbed Pansy by the hand, and all but ran out of the Great Hall.

Sighing, Harry turned back around to Ahsoka, who was staring at him with a mixture of confusion, awe, and something else he couldn't identify. "I– I'm sorry about that." He muttered. "I didn't mean to ruin the good time we were having."

"You didn't Harry." Ahsoka smiled, stepping up to and wrapping her arms around him. "I– I appreciate what you just did there. But next time…please let me handle it okay? I don't want you to fight all of my battles for me."

Not trusting himself fully to speak, Harry merely nodded before returning her embrace and slowly swaying his body back and forth to the slow steady beat of the music. The two stayed that way for a long time, even as others started filing out for the night they stayed together in each other's arms. "This has been a wonderful night Harry." Ahsoka said, pulling back just enough so that she could look him in the eye. "I wish that I didn't have to leave soon."

"So do I." Harry said back, not wanting to think about not having her near again. "But you don't have to leave yet right? Come on, I want to show you something."

Not giving her the chance to respond, Harry took her by the hand and led her out of the great hall and up the stairs. The two were almost running through the deserted halls of Hogwarts, laughing slightly as they did. Soon enough they found themselves in the astronomy tower. Leading Ahsoka over to the balcony, Harry swept Ahsoka up bridal style and jumped up onto the roof of the tower. "Harry!" Ahsoka cried joyfully, "what are you-"

"Shhh." Harry shushed her as he set her down onto the ledge.

Pulling out his wand he cast a quick warming charm on her and then himself. He then turned his wand downwards and swept all of the snow off away. "I found this spot by accident during my second year. And if I was to show you anything tonight…I wanted it to be this."

The overhang was actually quite spacious, enough so that two people could lay down side by side comfortably despite the spire. And from it, one had an unrestricted view of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the mountains and the Forbidden Forest. "Harry," Ahsoka breathed, looking around in wonder. "This…this is beautiful."

Leading her close to the edge, Harry sat down so that his legs were hanging over the edge before patting the spot next to him for her to sit down. "I know. I come up here whenever I need to clear my mind. It might be as grand as our spot in the temple, but I love it all the same."

Taking a seat next to him, Ahsoka lightly bumped her shoulder against his own. "And how many girls have you taken up here?"

Ducking his head, Harry coughed nervously. "Um…you're the first actually."

"Good answer." Ahsoka smiled before looking out over the horizon. "I'm still kind of cold though."

Harry blinked. His warming charm couldn't have worn off by then could it have? "Do you want me to apply another warming charm?"

"No." Ahsoka said shaking her head. Grabbing his arm, she wrapped it around her shoulders and leaned into him. "There…that's better."

Harry's heart started to thump almost painfully in his chest. "Ahsoka…I-"

Below them the door to the tower was thrown open with enough force to bounce off of the wall as two sets of giggles floated up to where they were sitting. Peering over the edge, Harry felt his face heat up as he saw two older students that appeared to be trying to suck each other's faces off as the boy awkwardly closed the door before leading the girl towards one of the darker corners of the tower.

"I– I forgot about that." Harry said awkwardly as he turned back towards Ahsoka. "This tower is also one of the…ah…premiere snogging locations in the school."

One of Ahsoka's eyebrows rose as she gave him a half-smirk. "Is that why you brought me up here Harry? Trying to get a good…'snogging'…out of me?"

"No!" Harry cried. "I would never– I mean you're worth the attempt but I would never presume to– I mean I–"

"Harry!" Ahsoka laughed swatting him on the shoulder. "It's alright. I know you well enough to know that you aren't that type of man." Her laughter tapered off as she turned back towards the darkened horizon. "Although…I don't think I'd mind in the least if you were right now."

Harry's mind ground to halt. 'She couldn't…did she just…' Not trusting himself to speak, Harry reached out and lightly took Ahsoka by the chin, turning her face to his, his eyes focused solely on hers. Moving slowly as to give her time to back away, Harry leaned forward ever so slightly until they were less than an inch apart. Her warm breath tickled his skin. Harry held his spot, waiting for her. His self-control evaporated as she quickly licked her lips, and then Harry closed the last crucial inch separating them and pressed his lips to hers.

There were no fireworks like in the stories, but as soon as their lips touched Harry felt complete in a way he'd never imagined before. He felt a peace…like this was where he was always meant to be. Then Ahsoka gasped slightly and everything changed. Harry grunted as his back impacted the roof as Ahsoka pushed him down and pinned him there, her lips pressed tightly against his own. Her hands went up and tangled into his hair, pulling his head back before she drove down and attacked his neck just below his ear.

A need spread through Harry's chest like an inferno. He wanted more. No. He needed more. Now!

Grabbing Ahsoka by her sides, Harry quickly flipped them over in place so that he was now above her. Mimicking what she'd done, Harry attacked her neck from just below the base of her ear down to her collar bone. He found the sweet spot as Ahsoka gasped when reached her collarbone. Wanting to hear it again, Harry renewed his efforts as her arms wrapped around his back, pulling him even closer to her.

Feeling her fingers pull on his hair once more, Harry let her guide his face back up to hers as their lips found each other's once more. Still feeling the need for more, Harry parted his lips slightly, allowing his tongue to lightly brush against her lips. Ahsoka gasped again as her grip tightened on his hair, but it was her tongue that snaked out and forced its way into his mouth first.

'Holy shit!' Harry thought, or cried out he didn't know or care at that point. 'This is…this is bloody well wonderful and– and why the fuck am I thinking right now?' Feeling Ahsoka's hand sliding up and down the lengths of his back sent shivers of pleasure thought Harry and any coherent thought he had left in him fled as he lost himself in her.

Trudging through the knee deep snow covered graveyard, Lucius Malfoy kept his eyes trained on the not so small house standing atop a hill before him. A few days prior he had received a letter by owl that he had never thought to receive. 'The rat came home. But why now? His letter indicated that he had vital information for me, but he never specified what that information was.'

Hearing a thud and a slight curse off to his left, Lucius just barely managed to fight back a growl The letter he'd received from the rat asked him to come alone, but there was no chance of that. So he contacted a few individuals that remained after the debacle at the Quidditch World Cup to follow him and see to it that the rat got his proper due. He'd spent a lot of time and money to get the little creature out of Azkaban, and in the end it'd been for nothing. 'Well not necessarily nothing. Fudge has become even more dependent on me ever since the escape so that was an unexpected boon. But on the same hand, he's also become more dependent on Nox. Which was not my intention in the least.'

As his thoughts drifted to the few that he'd brought with him, he was inevitably reminded of the failure that was the Quidditch World Cup. The plan had been to bring some fear back into the wizarding world. Too many mudbloods and half-bloods were starting to think that they were equals to the purebloods. Which was something that he could not allow. A select few targets had been chosen, and Lucius drafted those he knew would be amenable to the cause. Things had started out relatively well as they managed to cause quite a bit of destruction. Then those damnable…people showed up. These so-called Guardians.

His men didn't stand a chance against the cloaked individuals. Even though they outnumbered them two-to-one, his men were handled with ease. They were good, there was no denying that. At least one of them was on level with Lucius himself. Although he was sure that if he didn't have such idiots with him at the time he could've handled the cloaked meddlers easily.

And those strange swords that were able to reflect even the killing curse…such a weapon could shift the tides of war. He needed to get his hands on one immediately. If he could track down one he could use their family against them, or maybe he would simply throw enough gold at the individual to get them to turn.

There was just one problem with that thought…he had absolutely no idea just who they were! His first thought was that they were the remnants of Dumbledore's little bird club that he'd formed during the war. But he dismissed that. No, those fools were more concerned with capturing the followers of the Dark Lord rather than actually fighting for real. No. Whoever these "Guardians" were they were something new. Something dangerous, and something that he could not afford to have around.

'But there will be time to dwell on this new nuisance in time.' He thought, pushing all thoughts of the Guardians to the back of his mind as he climbed the five wooden steps up onto the porch. 'Right now I have a rat to handle.'

Stopping just shy of the door, Lucius pulled out his wand and waved it over the entrance. 'No wards. No curses. Not even a Morgana forsaken locking charm. Just a simple muggle lock. How pathetic.'

A simple unlocking charm later, and the door slowly swung open. The interior of the house was in horrible condition. Paint was chipping off the walls and a thick layer of dust covered everything he could see, save for a single line of tracks leading up the stairs to the second level of the house. Waving his hand, he signaled for the few men he took with him to spread out and surround the house. 'There will be no escaping for you today, little rat.'

Keeping his wand trained in front of him, Lucius slowly made his way up the stairs, pausing only occasionally to search for any traps before continuing on. As he reached the second floor, he saw a single light coming from around a door that was slightly ajar at the end of the hall. He could hear a muffled voice from the room beyond, but nothing distinguishable. 'Sounds like the rat is muttering to himself.'

Making his way silently down the hall, Lucius waited until he was just before the door before pulling his wand back and firing off a blasting curse.

The door flew off of its hinges and clear across the room where it splintered against the far wall. Marching in right behind the destruction, Lucius made a quick sweep of the room. The only piece of furniture was a high backed chair that was facing away from him and towards the fireplace that had a low burning fire going within. And cowering just in front of the chair was the rat himself.

"Hello rat." Lucius growled before banishing the rat across the room. "You have thirty seconds to give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't tear you apart piece by piece."

"Because…he servesss…me. Asss do…you…Luciussss."

Lucius's concentration broke as he let the rat fall to the floor, his focus solely and whole on the lone chair in the room. 'No…it couldn't be…could it?'

Making his way around the chair, Lucius nearly fell over. Sitting on the chair was a small child like homunculus. But despite its malformation…there was no doubt in his mind as to who this homunculus was. "Master," he breathed, dropped to one knee before the greatest Dark Lord since Lady Morgana. "You're alive. We all thought that you'd met your end at the hands of the Potter brat."

"You sssound…sssurprised Luciusss." His Master almost sounded amused. "I am…the greatest Dark Lord…and I…have mastered death…itself. Asss for my…untimely withdrawal…the Potter boy had…nothing to do with…it. It was hisss…mudblood mother…that caused my…destruction."

Lucius found that almost harder to believe than Potter defeating the Dark Lord. 'No mudblood, no matter how talented could hope to stand up against a pureblood Dark Lord.'

"Asss for…young Potter…if you thought he…wasss responsible for…my 'demise'. Then why…is he still…alive?"

Lucius cursed himself. "I have tried several times to avenge you my lord. I swear it. But the brat has proven himself to be most elusive. And his…mother…Nox has proven to be quite protective of her young charge."

"Yesss…Nox…Wormtail hasss told…me much about…her." Glancing up, Lucius swallowed as he saw the creature that was his Master staring off to the side with a wicked grin on his face. "The night of…my 'fall'…she killed one of my…ssservantsss. Liquefied his brain…according to Wormtail."

Glancing over at the cowering rat, Lucius fixed the beady eyes little creature with a glare. 'Surely he's exaggerating. The Nox that I know, while politically adept and moderately powerful, is would not use such a dark curse. She's just as soft as the old fool himself.'

"I'm sure he was just exaggerating my Lord."

"No…he wasss not." His master rasped, making Lucius furrow his brow in confusion. "I've…encountered the Potter…brat again. He hasss…been well trained. Training…unlike any I…have ssseen in…the wizarding world. Only Nox…could've trained him…ssso. He killed…Quirrell without hesitation."

Now Lucius was even more confused. He remembered Quirrell. The man's stuttering was an act that fooled many a wizard and witch to underestimate him. But in truth, he was powerful and skilled enough to be considered one of his Master's top enforcers. To think that the Potter boy could've killed him…just what has Nox taught the boy? And how much has she been holding back from the public eye?

"I am your ever loyal servant my Lord. Forgive me for not seeking you out my Lord…but I have continued the fight to ensure that the purebloods stand at the top."

"I know…you have Luciusss." Voldemort smiled, a horrendous sight on such a disgusting little thing. "You have…done well for our cause…and for yourself in my absence."

"Everything I have done has been in service to you and your ideals my Lord." Lucius groveled. "I assure you…unlike many I have never strayed from the path. Ask of me what you will, and I will see to it that it is done."

The homunculus stared at him before hissing loudly. The sound of something heavy sliding across the floor drew Lucius's eyes to the side of the room. What he saw made him swallow in fear as the largest snake he'd ever seen uncoiled itself from the dark corner it'd been laying in and slithered its way towards his lord. "Wormtail…itsss time. Milk Nagini…of her venom…and prepare the potion." Wormtail whimpered loudly as he rose from his prone spot on the ground to follow the large snake out of the room. "Asss for you…Luciusss…I have need of your…resources for dealing with…Potter."

"Say the word my Lord," Lucius said, bowing his head. "And I will see to it that the boy is dead." He wasn't quite sure just how he would keep that promise, with his many failed attempts already. But if his Lord commanded it, then he would see to it that it was done. Even if he had to sacrifice most of his wealth and more than one of his men. But such was the price for following a great wizard like Voldemort. And it was a price he would gladly pay.

"Not…yet Luciusss." Voldemort rasped, surprising him. "Plansss are already…in place for young…Potter. In time…I will deal with…him personally. For now…you will gather…my followersss that remain. And recruit…those who could prove…useful to me."

Lucius could've sagged with relief. 'He's not demanding the impossible this time around.' "As you will, my Lord. I shall begin immediately to gather the old guard and the next generation."

"Good." Voldemort hissed approvingly before waving him away. "Now go…ssspeak to no one of…my existence…yet. Prepare my followersss…for my return."

"Yes, my Lord." Lucius bowed once again before rising to his feet and making his way towards the door.

He was just at the door frame before Voldemort stopped him. "Luciusss."

"Yes, my Lord?" He asked, turning back around to face the back of the chair.

"I hope that you…do not think…that I haven't…noticed that my diary…isss gone."

Lucius's heart stopped. "My Lord– I–"

"Ssspare me…your excusesss Luciusss." Voldemort hissed angrily. "I know…my preciousss book…isss destroyed."

Moving back around to the front of the chair, Lucius once again sunk down onto one knee, his eyes focused on the bottom of the chair. "Forgive me, my Lord. I– I had thought to use the gift you gave me to enslave the mind of Ginny Weasley. But…but it must've been intercepted before she could write in it."

Risking a glance up, Lucius immediately recoiled. His Lord's eyes were smoldering. And he had no doubt that had Voldemort been in possession of his wand at that moment he could be on the floor suffering for his failure. "You will…be punished in time Luciusss." Voldemort rasped. "But serve me well…in the coming months…and your penance…shall be reduced."

"Thank you, my Lord." Lucius gasped, bowing even lower. His Lord had never been merciful. And while he knew that a reckoning was coming…if he could do anything to mitigate it he would.

"Now leave me…Luciusss."

"Yes, my Lord." This time Lucius moved quickly, leaving the room and even the house itself before his Lord had a chance to call him back.

Once he was outside in the cold, he stopped and leaned his head back and took a deep breath. 'Lord Voldemort is back. I was a fool to think that a child could've defeated him. And even more foolish to part with an object entrusted to me by him. I've fallen in his eyes. Perhaps even out of his inner circle.' The mere thought made him shudder in fear.

Those who were not in Voldemort's inner circle were often the central targets of his wrath. 'I must do anything and everything in my power to reobtain my position. And once I've earned his trust once again…I will learn how he managed to cheat death…and then kill him.'

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