The Black Prince

A/N: Thanks to the reviewer who pointed out that my Parseltongue wasn’t working for some reason. I guess it was erased completely, at least for some of you. To fix it I’ve put Parseltongue in italics from here on out and I’m going back to fix it. Sorry!

It was also brought to my attention that the equal signs that were in my link didn’t appear. I think I’ve fixed that too. Sorry for that as well. AFF if a more confusing website than ff.net (for me—I’m practically computer illiterate), hence all my troubles. I’m trying to fix all of them. Please keep telling me about problems so I can go back and fix them.

Thanks for all of the reviews!

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Chapter 7

Harry swallowed hard. \"Master? There is something I need to tell you.\"

\"Yes?\" Severus took in the worried expression on his pet’s face as he looked up at him. Severus was sitting in a chair by the fire and Harry knelt on the ground beside him. Harry was growing more and more worried as he tried to find the right words to tell him what he and Voldemort had decided earlier today. Severus sighed lightly and patted his thigh, urging Harry to lean against him, knowing that Harry often did better with these ‘confessions’ when he couldn’t feel his Master’s penetrating gaze. Severus took out the tie that bound his curly hair back and started lightly running his fingers over the curls. \"Tell me what is bothering you, pet.\"

\"We decided to tell the elite of my true parentage tonight at dinner. I will be assuming my birth name,\" Harry said all in one breath.

Severus’ hand never wavered. He had been expecting this. \"I see. You have never told me your birth name. What is it?\" he asked calmly. He had been curious for quite a while but had been unwilling to bring the topic up again without a clear sign from Harry that he wished to talk about it. They, by mutual but unspoken consent, tried to avoid speaking of Sirius Black. His loss was still fresh to Harry and Severus still found even the memory of the man insufferable.

\"Dorian Black.\"

\"A lovely name for a lovely boy. I quite approve. Are you worried about telling them, is that what has you so upset?\"

\"No Sir. I…I was worried you would be mad at me. I know you don’t like my Father much. I didn’t think you would want a daily reminder of him.\"

\"You already look quite similar to him, pet. I already have a daily reminder of him.\" Harry turned pale and Severus hurried to calm him. \"It clearly doesn’t bother me or I should have told you earlier. I believe that I now understand why your Father and I disagreed so violently when we were younger.\" Harry made a low inquiring noise but didn’t move. \"I have a feeling that he somehow knew that I was off limits to him, that I was intended for someone else. Perhaps something in me also pushed me away from him.\"

\"You think that the fact that you’re my mate prevented you from getting along?\" Harry asked as he looked up at his Master, then went rigid when he realized what he had said. Merlin, he had just admitted out loud that Severus was his mate, his intended, the only person who could satisfy his cravings with ease.

Severus laughed lightly. \"I’ve long known that I was your mate, pet. Did you think I had missed that fact? I knew by the time you were sixteen and hadn’t left me for someone else that I was your mate.\" Harry blushed and ducked his head again, leaning once more against his Master’s strong thigh. He couldn’t believe he had thought Severus would have missed that.

They might not know much about Incubi but like most magical creatures they typically knew who their mate was by the age of sixteen. Incubi were lucky in the fact that they physically could have sexual relationships with others who were not their mates and they would not die without them but it was only through sexual acts with their mates that they could truly find satisfaction, both for their appetites and for their desires. Sex with others would always leave them hungry and it was possible that if they stayed away from their mate for too long then they might go mad, although no one Dorian or his Father had heard of had ever been foolhardy enough to test it.

\"It isn’t quite as simple as you made it out to be,\" Severus continued. \"I don’t think that we hated each other because I was destined to be your mate. I think that we clashed and were somehow internally encouraged to disagree with each other to ensure that we didn’t wind up in a relationship of any sort as he did with nearly every other person that he knew. I was never attracted to him and I found that strange, given that I was definitely gay and I was well aware of the fact that literally the entire rest of the school was panting for him. Something inside us kept us apart, keeping me free for you. Had he survived to know that you and I had found each other I have no doubt that our relationship would have calmed down greatly once you and I had joined.\"

Harry nodded. \"I understand Sir. You might be right. I wish there was more known about Incubi.\" Severus nodded but did not comment. He had long since wished for more information about his unusual lover. Much of it had to be learned as they went along. Black hadn’t had much time to impart his knowledge to his son before he died. He had managed to explain some of what he would face to him but had not told him everything yet. Some of it he had wanted to wait until Harry was a bit older to tell him and in his desire to wait had lost the chance entirely with his untimely death.

They sat in silence for a while longer, merely enjoying being together. Finally Severus stood. \"We should get ready pet. We need to be there shortly.\"

Harry nodded and started redressing. He had stripped off most of his clothes upon entering the room. He always felt more comfortable without clothes on—an effect, no doubt, of his Incubus heredity. Severus pulled on his robe, the only thing that he had removed, and turned to help his lover. Harry carefully donned his Black Prince mask and nodded once to his Master that he was ready, silently asking Severus to open the door for him, subservient even when he was taking charge of his Master.

The two walked quickly to the dining room where the rest of the elite waited. Voldemort entered just after them, nodding his greeting to them both. The Prince and the Dark Lord moved as one and took the two seats that occupied the head of the large table. Severus took the seat immediately to his lover’s left while Lucius took the seat to Voldemort’s right. Everyone else was seated quietly, automatically filling in the other seats according to a sort of internal ranking that had never been voiced.

Once everyone had been served and the house elves cleared out except for their representative who had been invited, as always, to listen in on the meeting the leaders decided to begin. \"As you all know,\" Voldemort began, \"last night we received information from one of our spies that Dumbledore and the Order intended to pick up Harry Potter from his relatives this morning. The Prince and I decided to make a preemptive strike and abduct the muggle relatives and stage a fight scene in the house, making it appear that we had carried Harry Potter off along with his relatives.

\"Our attack was led by Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy with the assistance of Ava Lawrence, Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix Lestrange and Draco Malfoy. They successfully simulated a fight scene and left the remains of Harry Potter’s wand in his room as evidence for the Order to find in the morning. They met with no resistance and were able to complete their task quickly, gaining no notice and leaving no damning evidence behind apart from that which they wanted the Order to find.\"

The Prince picked up from here. \"The muggles are now safely locked away in the dungeons. Dumbledore and his Order discovered what happened at around 11.20 a.m. Severus Snape went to him to ‘report’ what he had heard among the other Death Eaters about the abduction. Dumbledore’s faith in Snape, which had wavered earlier in the year, has been fully restored. While Snape was finding out information from the Order we sent others of the elite to scout out the wizarding world’s reaction to the situation—or, if there were no reaction yet, to spread rumors about what had happened. We have successfully pervaded the major areas of the wizarding world with our rumors that hint at Dumbledore’s incompetence and his culpability in the entire situation.\"

\"Are there any questions about what has happened so far or what this may help to bring about?\" Voldemort asked quietly. The general ranks of soldiers would be shocked at how he operated these meetings with his elite. The elite were only rarely punished for mistakes and were often encouraged to debate with him. He had chosen them for their fidelity as well as their keen intelligence, incredible skill and power. He respected each one of them and always listened to their points and arguments, although it was always clear that any final decisions were his and his alone. Well, his and the Black Prince’s, now.

\"What is the purpose of taking the muggle relatives?\" Danius Leid spoke up.

\"They were my gift to your Lord in celebration of our alliance,\" the Prince said coldly.

Bellatrix spoke up irritably, remembering the horrible truths that she had learned last night. \"They are muggles of the worst kind. They are magic haters and close minded bastards on the same line as Dumbledore. That should be reason enough for you, Danius.\"

\"I meant no harm,\" he quickly assured her, \"I merely wondered what their value, if anything, was.\"

\"They hold no information that will be of use to us. They, however, wish to destroy all magic and all those who use it. They will not be tolerated,\" Voldemort hissed. The more intelligent of the elite immediately understood his implications, knowing that if they had been Harry Potter’s caretakers and they had wanted to destroy magic then they had likely tried to do so in him. They would question their leaders’ judgement no more on the matter.

Voldemort decided to begin their true business. \"The Prince and I called this meeting tonight to alert you to our future plans, at least in brief. With our alliance our stance in the war has changed greatly. We will now be aiming our attack more at the institution of the Ministry and at Dumbledore himself rather than at individual muggles or those who are friendly with muggles. It is our belief that this is the way to truly take over our society.

\"Once we have taken down the government we will have the perfect access to make the changes that need to be made in our society. With Dumbledore dead we will be able to take over influence at the schools, stopping the brainwashing that Dumbledore has been controlling for the past fifty years,\" Voldemort finished.

Harry spoke again, offering a deeper explanation. \"The most important thing though right now and in the next year will be to build our base. We don’t necessarily need more soldiers, we need a greater base of wizards and witches who understand and support the true Dark mantra. This means that we will be sending some of you out on long missions to try to educate the populace of our true purpose, destroying the lies that Dumbledore has been telling them since they were students at Hogwarts.\"

The elite nodded slowly, finding more sense in this new plan than in the old plans that Voldemort had come up with. \"Pardon me, Prince, but who will take over Dumbledore’s position in the school once we have gotten rid of him?\" Lucius asked.

\"We have not decided yet. We must wait until the public is ready to lose Dumbledore or else we risk turning him into a martyr. Once that time comes, we will reassess the situation and our own elite and see if there is anyone who would be appropriate to put in the position. Severus is already stationed at Hogwarts which makes it convenient to consider him but we also have many witches and wizards on the Board and others who hold important positions in society who are not without the accomplishments needed to be a good Headmaster or Headmistress.\"

\"Ultimately, that is something that will need to be decided as the time draws near. We cannot even guess right now when we will be ready to kill Dumbledore without having the public mourn his loss. Much of this plan is simply a basic outline for how we will be running our operations now, not a true battle plan. We felt it important for you to know the basic details though to aid you in your decision making on a day to day basis as you encounter situations where there are multiple possible reactions. For now, until we alert you to any changes, always choose to act as reasonable, intelligent, strong members of society who only want to better the positions of those around them. There have been times in the past when I have advocated acting like bullies or thugs but that will no longer be the case. You must, at all times, appear to be the people who truly have your neighbors’ best interests in mind—more so than the Ministry, more so than Dumbledore, more so than anyone of the light.\"

Everyone again nodded their understanding, quietly assimilating this new information. It was a relief, knowing that the war would be run like this. This was what they had always wanted. They had joined the Dark forces in order to effect change, not to torture people to death for fun. They might still enjoy torture but they wanted to do more. It was also a relief to have the war focused on something other than killing Harry Potter. They looked up in surprise when he spoke, breaking the silence.

\"I feel that those of you who hold our trust should know a bit more about your Prince,\" Harry said slowly as he carefully set down his glittering silver and gathered his thoughts. Everyone instantly turned his or her attention to him, eager to know more. \"I was not born Harry Potter and have, in fact, never been officially carried that name. James Potter was not my father.\"

Shock ripped through the elite but they remained silent, fearful of irritating their temperamental leader and having him decide to stop telling them this information. After a short pause, Harry continued. \"My mother, Lily Evans, had an ongoing affair with Sirius Black from the age of seventeen until her death. As a half Incubus the pull toward him was no doubt nearly impossible to avoid, especially if he set his sights on her, as he has told me that he did shortly after she married James Potter. In order to hide who I was she placed a light glamour over me that has been breaking down since I entered the wizarding world.\"

His statement was met by shocked silence. \"Are you, then, a quarter Incubus?\" Lucius finally asked, wary of voicing a question but knowing that everyone was asking the same question of themselves right now.

\"No, I am half Incubus. After the initial mating with a human the Incubus blood never dilutes itself. It is impossible to breed it back out. Should I ever have children they, too, will be half Incubi.\"

\"How did you make it through puberty? How did you handle it?\" Rodolphus asked, looking as if he could hardly believe it.

Harry merely raised an eyebrow at the question. \"That is hardly your business, is it?\"

Rodolphus blushed as he finally realized exactly what his question implied and shook his head. \"My apologies, my Prince, I didn’t realize what I was saying. Forgive my crude question.\"

Harry nodded, took a long drink of his wine, and leaned back into his comfortable chair.

Draco bravely spoke up. Everyone was shocked that the young man had the stones to do so while surrounded by so many who clearly outranked him but since he asked yet another question that was on all of their minds they didn’t reprimand him. \"What was your birth name, then…my Prince?\" he quickly added.

The Prince narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, trying to decide if he wished to reveal his name to them. He had earlier decided to do so but now that the time had come he hesitated to tell everyone. He had always liked having something so important kept as such a close secret. Draco sat with bated breath, awaiting his punishment for speaking out of turn. He hadn’t meant to but the question slipped out. \"Dorian Black,\" the Prince finally said, and then took another long sip of his wine.

\"Are we to call you by this name now?\" Lucius asked quietly.

Voldemort answered for his co-ruler. \"Just as you all have permission to call me Tom upon the rare occasion you will also not be punished for using the Black prince’s personal name when you are in an appropriate situation. For now though, you are the only ones who will know the truth of his parentage so you cannot, under any circumstances, use that name in any public situation.\"

Everyone immediately nodded their understanding. \"Can you tell us a bit about Incubi, Prince?\" Ava asked hesitantly. She always had a thirst for knowledge but she wasn’t sure if this question would irritate or amuse her new leader.

Dorian smiled softly, making everyone relax. Evidently he found her desire for arcane knowledge charming. They were quickly learning how to read his facial expressions. His face, even when smiling, was still closed but they knew how to recognize the small changes. \"As a part Incubus I am many of the things that you have heard of before in the myths written long ago about Incubi. I naturally exude a very strong pull when I have gone unsatisfied for too long. I am able to keep control over it as long as I have at least some access to a lover. I literally feed off of sexual energy but as a part Incubus I must be a participant in order to feed. Unlike myself, if you will recall, full blooded Incubi can feed off of any sexual energy, even if the party does not attain completion or even know that the Incubus is present.

\"You have no doubt noticed that my skin has a sort of golden glow which is entirely natural and grows more noticeable the more that I feed.\" Everyone looked down in shock at his hands, noticing for the first time that he literally was glowing with a dull golden sheen. What had appeared to be a sun kissed tan earlier was now quite obviously something not quite possible for humans to achieve. The glow was subtle and could be mistaken at a glance for a mere tan but the golden sheen made him stand out more than he usually did. Evidently the luster was connected to how recently he had fed.

The elite all fought the urge to look at Severus Snape to see if he had been the obliging person to help their Prince feed. He undoubtedly was, since the Prince had demanded him so forcefully. The Prince cleared his throat. \"There isn’t too much more. I have a natural pull toward people in general, desiring touch even if it is not sexual but nothing else that is too noteworthy. Now that I am through the most dangerous stages of life as a part Incubus it is highly unlikely that I would lose control of myself. I am also better able to know what I need and when I need it so I would be able to avert a situation, should it arise.\"

Evidently Draco had only just made the connections. He stared incredulously between his Professor and his Prince, finally realizing that they had indeed had a consensual sexual relationship while they were still at school. Suddenly, the entire thing was just too funny for him—the Boy Who Lived and the Greasy Git. \"How long have you and Professor Snape been fucking?\" Draco asked bluntly, evidently not remembering his earlier lessons.

The Prince never bothered to look at him, merely pointing his wand at the boy and shooting a quick but incredibly painful Dark curse at him. The curse that he had chosen not only created pain that was nearly equal to the Cruciatus curse while applied but unlike the Unforgiveable, the pain of this curse also lingered for weeks to follow rather than a few minutes. Not even Voldemort would use the curse very often. Everyone watched in horror as the young Malfoy fell from his seat and lay convulsing on the ground. House elves entered at the signal of the representative elf and silently carried the whimpering boy out.

\"I believe we made our position quite clear earlier when we told you to respect Severus Snape,\" he said glacially, turning his cold gaze slowly over the rest of the men and women at the table.

\"Please forgive my son, Prince. He is young and he forgets his place,\" Lucius begged, terrified that Draco’s words had just destroyed both of their positions in the Death Eaters. He had worked long and hard to obtain his high position among the elite and Draco’s stupid schoolboy comment may have just torn him from it. His son could be absolutely brilliant but he could also easily slip into childish arguments and problems. He didn’t know what to do anymore.

The Black Prince turned his icy gaze to Lucius making him shudder once again. \"You are not at fault for your son’s impetuosity…this time. Be sure that it does not happen again.\"

\"Yes, my Prince. Your generosity is appreciated.\" Dorian nodded once and returned to his wine. Everyone shifted uncomfortably. They knew that the Malfoy heir had gotten off relatively lightly but it was still startling to see their new leader punish someone. They had known that it would happen but it was a shock to witness the last hope of the light employ Dark curses with such ruthless accuracy.

Voldemort turned to the Black Prince and hissed to him. The boy is impulsive. He undoubtedly forgot the change in your position and saw you for a moment as his school rival who might have a relationship with his professor and godfather.

I am sure of it. That is why I did not kill the brat. Regardless of how good his excuses may be, I will allow anyone, especially a common soldier, to speak so poorly or crudely of my mate.

Of course not. I expected nothing less. It is none of their business what you do or do not do with Severus. I must admit though that I am curious as to the new glow to you. Can I assume that our dear Severus is responsible for it? The Prince smirked and nodded. He didn’t mind speaking of his relationship with friends or those who were ready to treat his Master with respect but Draco’s question had been entirely different. As I thought. I do believe that you have properly terrified Lucius though.

The Prince hissed a sibilant laugh. I am sure. He should have trained his son more thoroughly before bringing him to such important meetings. If nothing else Draco should have known to keep silent. He spoke out of turn twice. He’s lucky I didn’t punish him the first time.

There is too much of Bella’s impulsiveness in him. I had hoped that he would be more like his Father. He luckily inherited little from his bitch mother. He is quite old enough though to know how to behave properly. He is an embarrassment to us all.

Perhaps it is not too late for him to learn. I feel certain that he will take his proper place in the Death Eaters when he has a bit more time to grow up. He has probably rarely been punished by anyone for speaking out of turn. He is allowed to be surrounded by adults and attend to their affairs but he is not punished as one. He has been allowed to remain a child while assuming some of the more glorious privileges of the adults in our employ. Have you ever punished him before?

No. He was rarely around before this summer and he has been relatively well behaved up until now. Given your desire to limit punishments I always allowed him to slide by…which it appears I should not have done. I apologize. Had I known he would be so ill mannered I would have ensured that Lucius discipline him at home. Perhaps he will learn from this experience.

\"Undoubtedly,\" the Prince answered in English. \"If you are all finished, I believe that the soldiers are awaiting our presence in the meeting hall.\"

Everyone nodded and stood to go to the meeting, pulling their masks out of their robes. They hurried down the hall to the rest of the Death Eaters, assuming their places in the front. The rest of the Death Eaters quieted when they realized that the elite had arrived, signaling the imminent arrival of their leaders. They fell to their knees en masse when they realized that their leaders stood in the doorway.

Lord Voldemort and the Black Prince entered as one, matching each other stride for stride. They reached the front of the room and turned together to face their soldiers. \"One of the first steps has been made toward turning the tide in this war,\" Voldemort announced, and then gave them a condensed version of the events that had taken place in the past twenty four hours.

Once the Death Eaters understood everything that had happened they were thrilled. Although no huge steps had been taken yet they had made an important start in eroding Dumbledore’s immense control over the population. That in itself was enormously important. After the debriefing Lucius announced to his leaders that three new recruits had come to be tried and marked. Voldemort nodded curtly at him, indicating that he could show them into the room.

He returned, followed by Remus Lupin, Neville Longbottom and Millicent Bulstrode. Each walked up to the front of the room and bowed low, not daring to look up. The Prince finally spoke. \"Do you come of your own free will to be marked as members of the Dark legion?\" Millicent and Neville looked up in shock, noticing for the first time that their classmate stood at Voldemort’s side.

Remus responded first, having expected to see Harry there. \"I do, my Lord, Prince.\" Neville and Millicent responded in kind after they heard their classmate’s proper title, albeit shakily.

\"Very well,\" Voldemort replied. He bent low, staring deeply into each one’s eyes, searching out memories and treacherous thoughts. It was this legilimency test that made it so difficult to infiltrate the Death Eaters. Neville and Millicent both passed quickly. Because Remus was a werewolf it was nearly impossible to perform legilimency on him. Voldemort exchanged a look with the Prince whose eyes flashed red for a brief moment as they conversed mentally.

The Prince spoke again. \"Remus, you will lower your natural barriers as much as possible. Severus, enter his mind.\" Severus was better at legilimency than his Lord and he was occasionally called to service when difficult cases presented themselves. Werewolves had nearly impenetrable natural occlumency barriers as one of the few true benefits of their curse. Harry hoped that with the added trust of knowing that it was his cub’s mate who was entering his mind that he would be able to lower his barriers enough for a quick scan.

Severus had to visibly prepare himself for the struggle as he tried to force his way into the werewolf’s mind. After a brief scan he quickly left, leaving Remus sagging in relief. \"He passed the test,\" Severus announced.

\"Why do you seek us out?\" the Prince asked the new recruits who stared at him in open shock. They had not expected to have to do anything but be tested through mind magic and then be branded. Neville gave a hesitant answer. \"I have seen Dumbledore’s trickery. My Gram had warned me about him, telling me about a made-up prophecy that he had tried to tell her when I was a baby in order to take me away from her. I watched him closely for a while and after a year or so I started to question the side of the light. The more I questioned it the more I realized the damage that the so called light side was doing to our society.\" The Prince nodded and turned to Millicent.

\"I have long known that Dumbledore’s side would never be my own but I had thought to retain neutrality. I recently realized though that such a course would be a coward’s way out, especially since in my heart I already supported the Dark. I decided to pledge myself to the Dark so that I could serve as my leader’s needs dictate.\"

The Prince nodded again and finally turned to Remus who had finally recovered from his struggle. It had been very difficult to fight his nature and to allow a foreign presence into his mind. It helped that the presence had been his cub’s mate, making him a pack member of some sort. \"I have always questioned the light and had been ready to come to you many years ago, during the first war. I hesitated though in an attempt to keep my cub whom I feared would be lost to me if I came to the Dark too early. Now that he has come safely to the Dark I could as well and I happily followed.\"

Voldemort and the Prince again exchanged long looks, their eyes flashing dangerously. They reached an agreement though and stepped forward simultaneously to brand their new followers. Remus looked down at his two marks and smiled happily. His cub was finally the leader that he had been born to be and he was finally fighting on the right side.