Harry Potter: Dark Lord, Loving Father

Chapter 1: All in the Family

Rain poured down outside the window as Harry watched the sky for any sign of communication from his son, Albus. It was already the middle of the Spring rains where the Potters lived in England with their two sons, James and Albus, and their daughter, Lily. The children were off to Hogwarts, nearing the end of the year, leaving Ginny and Harry alone in peace, for a while, at least.

It was one of those nights that Harry couldn't think of anything other than of his children -- Albus in particular. The boy hadn't written in several weeks, when he normally wrote at least every other week, even if it was just a hurried note. Albus was in his fourth year already, James in his fifth, and Lily, in her second. James wrote more often than Al, but Lily topped them both with her bi-weekly updates.

While being a parent was tough at times, Harry was just thrilled in knowing that his kids would have parents, unlike him, growing up. Albus especially reminded Harry of himself when he was younger, except much more free to pursue his own dreams and take his own path. This was highlighted by the mere fact that Al was the only of his three children who sorted into any other house outside of Gryffindor -- Slytherin, to be precise.

Al befriended a number of people in his House that Harry was shocked by (much to the rest of the family's disgust and distain); most certainly, Scorpius Malfoy was at the top of that list. But Harry wasn't too worried -- after all, he'd made up with Draco Malfoy when Al was in his first year, writing home asking for permission to spend a week of winter hols with his new friend at the Malfoy manor. Needless to say, after a long winded debate with Ginny over the topic, Harry wrote Albus back, giving the "thumbs-up", so to speak.

This friendship between Al and Scorpius turned into a useful connection for Albus, at least, once Harry shared a particular piece of information with his son. Upon researching more about family lines and relations, Harry discovered that through the Peverell brothers, the Potters where the only living, magical family that was closest in relation to the Slytherin line. Of course, this meant, much to Harry's horror, that he was the head of the Slytherin family. At first, Harry laughed it off after he found out (he, the Saviour of the Wizarding world was the Slytherin heir! -- what a joke), but after he'd told Albus, he soon regretted his decision in letting the boy know. Al found numerous books on Slytherin and books concerning the writing and times of the Founder in the Malfoy mannor, informing the bloody Malfoy family while he was at it.

To Harry's dismay, over the following years, he found himself at the Malfoy's with Al, Scorpius (when they were out on break) and Draco, researching the Slytherin line and such topics. It seemed that no matter what he said, Harry couldn't get himself out of this and the three Slytherins would somehow manage to convince him to stay -- after all, it was Harry who should be the one interested, right?

Following several years of tedious work of evaluation of old texts in Middle-English, Latin, and some in Parsletongue, Harry was enlighten that he was to follow the "Slytherin Code", now that he was the head of the family line. Refusal to do so would slowly eat away at his ability to do magic -- essentially slowly and painfully turning him into a squib... something that Harry wasn't all too interested in happening to him. So, Draco (ever smirking at the interesting turn of events) sent Harry home with the book that contained the Code so he could finish translating (since that one was in written Parsletongue). Since then, Harry was constantly invited over to the Malfoy estate (sometimes with Ginny and the other two children, but most often, not) and taught more about manners and all sorts of pureblood traditions.

All of this rubbish felt like torture to Harry the first two years of it, but since this last summer, these sessions hadn't been as bad as before, at least, so it seemed. Ginny commented "those bloody Malfoys" were beginning to rub off on him and Albus a little too much for her tastes. Harry wrote it off to the fact that Ginny wasn't always invited to come with Harry and Al. So what if Harry had better manners and knew more about the culture he lived in? It was better than living like a bunch of barbarians (or muggles, as so he used to call them) -- Ginny should know better than what she was accusing him of! Harry had begun to wear and appreciate more traditional wizarding wear than the muggle clothes and spent more of his time reading about wizarding history than watching TV or the like. It had never really been all that appealing or entertaining, anyway.

Finally, Harry spotted an owl approaching in the dimming light of his study, as he was coming out of his thoughts. Upon the owl reaching within two feet of the window, Harry opened it, letting in the cold, soaking owl, then spelling the poor creature dry. Once the animal was content, it gave up the letter it was holding hostage -- only Al's owl would be so... damn Slytherin! Rolling his eyes at the behaviour of the animal, the wizard lifted the seal and proceeded to peer at the semi-elegant scrawl that belonged to his younger son and read the rather long note.

Once he read the last of the letter, Harry scowled, contemplating on what to respond to his son with. "Al, why must you be so difficult sometimes?" he muttered to himself, sitting back down in his chair, getting out his quill, ink and some parchment. "Of course I've been following the Code," the hero wrote, his own writing having improved a bit since his school days (of course, in thanks to Draco, in part), "I just haven't been following it so religiously as you are urging me to with every clause of the bloody thing -- after all, how would your mother and your siblings understand if I started to do some of those things it entails, so suddenly? Perhaps your idea of teaching wouldn't be so unappealing, since there's an opening in the Defense position. I'll consider it." Harry ended the letter with comments on Al's progress on his schooling, smiling to himself as he did.

Handing the brown owl a treat and the sealed and water-proofed letter, Harry opened the window once more, getting a face full of cold rain, slamming it shut once the owl was outside. Disgusted, Harry quickly vanished the offensive water off of his face, taking a deep breath as he sat back down, again, at his desk. Perhaps he should consult Ron or Hermionie about this decision? No, they'd be to busy with Auror and Ministry duties alike. Mentally going down his list of contacts, Harry soon found that Malfoy was the only, least offensive person that he'd be willing to talk about this with. He folded Al's letter, putting it in his robe pocket.

Sighing in resignation, the man got up and informed Ginny of his trip to the Malfoy's. He got back a grumble in response, which he shrugged off to misunderstanding on her part. After the war, Draco Malfoy and his family were much like any other -- add to that, Harry had saved Draco's sorry arse that one day, twenty-four or so years ago. Harry grabbed a handful of floo powder and tossed it into the flames, turning them green, calling out "Malfoy Manor" as he stepped into the flames.

Once arriving at the appropriate destination, Harry straightened himself, soon waving his wand to be rid of the dust and soot that covered his emerald-green robes. "Hullo," he greeted, grinning at Draco, who was used to the frequent visits by now, reading in his chair by the fire.

"What now, Potter?" Draco asked, nonchalantly, smirking playfully, knowing all too well how to get his formal rival to talk. "Did something that your cunning little spawn write offend the poor Gryffindor's head?"

Chuckling lightly at the intended jab, Harry shook his head in the negative. "I don't think much can offend my supposed 'Gryffindor' conscience anymore, after spending so much time with you and your lot, Malfoy. After all, isn't it I who is the Slytherin Heir, not you?" he retorted with a smirk of his own forming on his lips.

"Clever, Potter, very clever," Draco admitted, shutting his book silently. "Did Al tell you about the opening at Hogwarts?"

"Yes," Harry replied, taking the offered seat across the fireplace from the Malfoy, putting his wand away inside his robes. "But, as always, at this time, everyone is busy, other than you, ever so conveniently. I seriously think that this is some sort of conspiracy against me," he added, with a sarcastic tone, the corners of his lips quirking.

"You should take it -- I'm thinking of taking the Potions position -- Scorpius has informed me that the professor is talking about taking a position offered at the Ministry -- better pay and benefits, apparently," Draco told the other, in all seriousness. "You've been wearing the Locket, I see -- and the wand?"

In response, Harry's hand automatically went to the chain around his neck, fingering the now-familiar feel of the Slytherin crest. "I am," he confessed, letting out the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, "and I got the wand back, yes -- you can't believe how difficult it was. I couldn't stand thinking about having to use that old wand of yours after I'd broken mine again -- if you'd like, I'll give it back?" Harry asked, pulling out the dragon-heartstring wand that was originally Malfoy's.

"I thought so, but I don't believe that you're thinking properly, Potter -- I've gotten myself a new wand, but you should keep it, for certain occasions where you'd rather not alert certain individuals of your possession of it," the Slytherin reminded Harry, using a demeaning tone, sneering at the green-eyed wizard.

"Thanks for being my voice of reasoning, Malfoy -- I suppose you're right," he admitted with a sigh, his cheeks showing a bit of colour in his now-pale face.

The Elder Wand appeared to be like any other wand, about twelve inchs in length and dark in colour -- but was far different when it came to power of those who were its rightful owner. Sure, Harry had repaired his old wand with it and re-buried it, but after a particular incident where it seemed as though someone seemed to be after the wand, aiming towards Hogwarts, the thought of the wand ending up in the wrong hands, Harry went and retrieved it. Since then, he'd keep the bloody thing close to him at all times. Soon enough, though, Harry had begun to take a liking to the ease of casting spells that the Deathstick provided him.

"I'm glad someone is your voice of reason, in contrast to all of those bloody Gryffindors you insist on hanging around, despite your better judgment," Draco scoffed, looking into the ruby-coloured flames.

After what seemed to be an eternity of silence, Harry finally confessed his true reasons for coming to Draco, in particular: "I need help with following the Slytherin Code," he whispered, almost ashamed of himself.

Draco's eyes widened, staring at the slightly flustered man in green sitting across from him. "Then, you're going to finally put aside all that Gryffindor rubbish and embrace who you've become?" the Malfoy inquired, almost disbelievingly.

"You know that you heard -- Al thinks that teaching at Hogwarts would be a good cover for doing this -- with the exception of Neville, of course," Harry told the blond, affixing his eyes on his hands in his lap.

"He is smart, I'll give you that," Malfoy replied with a dry laugh, looking at Harry, a tad concerned. 'Had the Boy-Who-Lived finally cracked? Was the world going to fall back into darkness?' Draco wondered, a small smirk forming on his lips, signifying his interest he held in this progress he saw. "You're serious about this, then," came the dark, foreboding question that cause Harry to become as white as a ghost.

Harry knew his decision here would be ultimately between being able to still call himself a wizard and damning the wizarding world, in a sense. Had he been faced with making this decision years ago, back before he'd become so well-acquainted with the Malfoys, the automatic answer would have been to save the wizarding world, no matter the consequences to himself. Now, however, was much different....

"Yes, Draco, I'm serious," he breathed, his heart pounding in his ears. "'I pledge to follow the Slytherin Code completely and willingly'," Harry recited, feeling the weight of the decision vanish from his mind and shoulders.

"You do realize what you've just committed yourself to?" the blond asked, in a quiet tone, breathless, moving to Harry's side, torn between awe and trepidation.

"I know this," he replied, sighing, "but the wizarding world owes something to me, for all that I've sacrificed to save it on so many occasions."

A small his resonated within Harry, whispering, "Good, good... you shall keep your magic in exchange for your cooperation."