The Black Prince

A/N: I wasn’t quite ready to post this yet but since I finally got the damn Internet to work from my dial up I decided to go ahead. I get DSL next Wednesday so hopefully posting issues will go away. Thanks for reading!

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Chapter 9

Dorian walked through the gardens outside the manor with Remus, chatting quietly about their recent choices. He hadn’t bothered to dress completely and only wore a pair of pants with the top button undone making them hang dangerously low on his hips and some open robes over his bare chest. Remus hadn’t bothered to comment on his state of dress before they set out, deciding that he was probably doing well just to have clothes on at all.

\"Are you happy with your choice?\" Dorian asked quietly.

\"Yes, I wish we could have come sooner. I knew you weren’t ready when I first met you and if we had done this a year or so ago then it would have been too soon. My Lord would have accepted you as a soldier, perhaps a high ranking one but not as his equal.\"

\"But for you…are you happy?\"

\"Dear gods, boy, of course I am! I managed to follow my own ideals without losing my cub. What more could I want?\"

Dorian shrugged, his robe slipping off his shoulder. \"I don’t know. I just wanted to make sure,\" he said uncertainly, although his face remained impassive for the benefit of any soldiers who could see them but not hear them.

Remus smiled and tugged the robe back up, trying to keep him at least somewhat covered. The soldiers all knew that he was part Incubus, having been told that a week ago, but they still found it incredibly hard to keep their eyes off him. \"I’ll always be happy so long as I can keep you. I nearly died when Dumbledore broke my pack up. With Lily and James dead, Peter supposedly dead and Sirius in prison I was left with nothing but you and he took you away from me too. I can’t go through that again.\"

\"I’ll never leave you, you know that Remy. And now you have Severus too, don’t you?\"

\"I suppose I do, though he would probably die to hear it. He’s a good man—I am pleased with your choice.\"

\"Not much choice to it, as you well know. But it does feel nice that I actively picked him before I knew that he was my mate. It makes it feel a bit less…predestined or something.\"

The two grew quiet as they walked past a group of Death Eaters who were patrolling the grounds, all studiously trying to avoid checking out their semi-dressed Prince. Although he was blocking his sexual pull as much as it was possible to do, as an Incubus it was always at least slightly present. Even without the pull though he was a gorgeous, half clad young man.

Dorian spotted Lucius and Bella chatting further ahead. \"Let’s go ask them if they have come up with any ideas about the shop. We have our meeting later today and I’m still not ready to make a decision.\" Remus agreed and they walked over to the benches. Voldemort and the Prince had opened their idea up to around half of the elite to brainstorm ideas about what type of shop he should open in Hogsmeade. They needed to walk a fine line between luring the students in and avoiding the notice of those whom they needed to hide from.

Dorian quickly slipped into his Black Prince role. \"Lucius, Bellatrix,\" he said, perhaps not as coldly as he often was while the Prince but certainly lacking any warmth. \"Do you have a moment?\"

\"Of course, my Prince,\" Bellatrix said quickly. Dorian sat down on a bench near them while Remus chose to remain standing.

\"Have either of you come to any conclusions about the type of shop I should open in Hogsmeade?\"

\"I believe that a restaurant would best suit your needs, Prince,\" Lucius replied. \"Students would come in to eat and drink, spending long hours within your shop. It would give you ample time to eavesdrop or to talk to them without rousing suspicion. If you added a few things to appeal to the younger crowd you would drive away the professors without even trying.\"

Dorian raised a single eyebrow in inquiry. Lucius quickly elaborated. \"You could play muggle music, quite popular among the Hogwarts students, I hear, and difficult for them to find access to since the castle is so remote. Most of the older set are rather turned off by the loud music and wouldn’t go in during the day. After dark it could be converted into a typical pub so that the adults would go in. You would have access to both crowds while they were at their most unwary—kids when they are having fun with their friends, adults when they are drinking.\"

Dorian nodded slowly, thinking about this. It would be a lot of work but it might pay off well. He looked up when he heard a soldier speaking behind him. \"Hey, Lucius, you get a sight of the Incubus today? He’s prancing around half nake—\"

The Prince stood up and slowly turned around, his eyes flashing in fury. He didn’t give a damn that the soldier was gossiping about his clothing (or lack there of). It infuriated him though that the soldier had dared to address another while in his presence. He was the leader damn it and he should always be the first to be addressed in any situation.

Flint took a quick step back, paling instantly. Why the hell didn’t he look around and see where the Prince was before he opened his mouth? He looked to Lucius for help, knowing that he was a favorite of their Lord and seemed to be rather high in the Prince’s favor as well so far. Lucius shook his head. He wouldn’t do anything to help him.

\"Do not presume to speak in front of your leaders without express permission, soldier,\" Dorian said coldly.

Flint nodded eagerly. \"Yes sir.\"

Dorian’s wand was suddenly in his hand although he had made no movement to draw it. He hissed a spell in Parseltongue, mystifying the other elite members and Remus until they realized what the spell had done. It had sealed his mouth shut completely, preventing any speech at all until the spell was undone. More though, it would prevent any intake of food or drink until the spell was undone. Likely it needed to be undone in Parseltongue. Lucius cringed. Flint would bear that punishment for quite a while if that were the case. Well, at least until he was in a coma or died. It was highly unlikely that their Prince would undo it and he knew that Voldemort would never undo his ally’s spellwork, particularly if it were part of a punishment.

\"Leave us,\" Dorian said, narrowing his eyes in obvious distaste for the soldier. He sat down again and turned to Bellatrix as if nothing had happened. \"What have you decided, Bellatrix?\"

She hurried to report, terrified of turning his wrath in her direction. \"I had thought that a…well, an odds and ends type of shop might work. You could sell everything from books to old artifacts to used items to potions ingredients. Because it would be a curiosity shop of sorts it would be normal for customers to linger for quite a while to look at all the wares and even sit and read from the books a bit.\"

Dorian again nodded, pacified almost immediately by her quick and intelligent response. \"Both are interesting suggestions. Thank you.\"

\"Will you be ready to make your decision by our meeting today?\" Lucius asked.

\"Perhaps.\"

\"Prince?\" Bella said hesitantly, uncertain of whether she would be pushing too far or not with her question. She had to know though. The suspense was killing her. She expected her death daily and each day as she went to sleep her dreams were filled with images of him finally obtaining his revenge.

Dorian turned his gaze toward her, trying to keep it neutral. \"Yes?\"

\"May I ask you a personal question?\" Dorian sat for a moment, staring at her relentlessly and then nodded when he saw no malicious intent. \"Why do you not hate me? Why haven’t you singled me out for punishments rather than sending my on your most important mission so far? I killed your father,\" she whispered, blinking back tears.

Dorian stared at her, never blinking. She shifted nervously under his gaze, certain that he would kill her any moment. \"You hit my Father with a light stunning spell. The fact that he fell through the Veil afterward was not your intention or your direct doing.\"

She looked rather uncomforted and still a bit terrified, as if she was waiting for him to realize what she had done and kill her in vengeance. \"Bella,\" he said with a gentleness she had never expected from the cold young man, \"I am sure that you would never kill a family member if you could help it. I know that you did not intend to kill my Father. Hurt him? Perhaps. Humiliate him? Certainly. Never kill, though. I cannot blame you when the fates simply came together and decided to twist a harmless action into a cruel death. Some would have even called you kind, sending such a weak spell toward him in the middle of what was essentially a battle. I know that you did not intend for that spell to kill him.\"

She gave him a teary smile. \"Thank you, Prince. I have been worried about it ever since. I might be lacking a few morals and am always willing to bend the rules but not even I would become a kin killer.\"

\"I know,\" Dorian said softly. He knew that he was shedding his Black Prince role right now but Bellatrix was a family member and Lucius was as well, in addition to being the highest ranking Death Eater aside from his mate. He knew that they wouldn’t gossip about it.

Remus spoke up finally. \"Sirius always loved dueling you, Bella. He told me stories all the time of your childhood duels and competitions. We all wish that night had gone differently but at least Siri was able to get out of the house and feel useful again. He had been wasting away in his enforced hiding. I tried to get him to come to Voldemort early on but he was scared that he would lose his son. We had planned to talk to Dorian that summer about changing sides. His death delayed our journey but we still made it.\"

\"Black had been going to accept the mark?\" Lucius said incredulously.

\"Yes. We had both wanted to before the end of the first war but we delayed when we found that Lily was carrying his baby. We knew that Lily wouldn’t be able to come with us, married to James as she was, and we were unwilling to leave her alone.\"

Severus walked up to the group, outside in a rare walk in the sun, ostensibly gathering potion ingredients. He was actually looking for his pet, not enjoying the fresh air, and the basket of fresh cut ingredients merely served to disguise the fact that he really wanted to talk to his lover. He had heard Lucius’ comment about Black and that had alerted him to his sub’s presence although he could not see him through the thick foliage. He made his way closer to them quickly. \"Prince,\" he said formally, bowing quickly and then taking a seat nearby. Dorian shifted uncomfortably at his closeness, ready to eat but knowing that he needed to wait until his Master told him it was time.

The others were oblivious to his discomfort. \"We were just telling our Prince about our ideas for what type of shop he should open in Hogsmeade. You were the one to come up with the idea of his working in Hogsmeade…what type of shop were you envisioning?\" Lucius asked, eager to hear what his friend would say.

Severus absentmindedly toyed with a long stem of the sweet grass he had just cut to dry for his winter potions. \"I’m not entirely certain. I had thought of a bookstore, but that would draw primarily Ravenclaws and a few Slytherins if you had an interesting enough stock. A Quidditch store seems rather out of the question since it would draw the entirely wrong crowd, as would a joke or trick store. A potions store could work, but again, that wouldn’t be a universal draw. I am leaning toward a restaurant or a café.\"

\"And what of you, Remus?\" Bellatrix asked, suddenly realizing that no one had heard anything from him.

\"I had thought of something along the same lines as you actually, Bella. Shops like that are often popular with nearly everyone. Those who are poor love them because they can shop for second hand items and save a bit of money. The rich love them because they can find rare treasures buried among the rest of the mess. They allow people plenty of time to linger. I can see plenty of drawbacks to that type of shop though. I’m really not sure.\"

Bellatrix nodded and stood to leave. \"Prince, by your leave, I need to return to my home. My husband awaits me.\" Dorian nodded amiably and she slowly walked away, leaving the four men to themselves.

\"Might I inquire, Prince, why you changed sides?\"

Dorian’s easy expression immediately closed off, all hint of the easy going conversation they had just engaged in gone completely from his face. \"My past is none of your concern, Lucius, and you would do well to remember that.\"

Lucius immediately nodded, terrified that he had overstepped himself. He felt that his family was walking an incredibly dangerous line right now, what with Draco’s impossibly rude comment earlier and both his and his son’s actions toward their Prince over the previous years. \"Forgive me, I did not mean to offend.\"

Remus prodded his godson’s shoulders gently, trying to remind him that he was a moody bastard and that he should try not to take it out on his soldiers, particularly one who was so intelligent and useful. Dorian sighed. \"I was perhaps too harsh, Lucius. I suppose as one of Lord’s favorites you, of all people, should know a bit more.\" He sat quietly for a moment, collecting his thoughts. He would be giving the extremely truncated version of the story, summing everything up in a few sentences. He wasn’t ready yet to talk about any of it in greater detail.

\"I have never trusted Dumbledore. When I received my Hogwarts letter I knew that I needed to stay away from him.\"

\"Why?\" Lucius blushed when he realized that he had interrupted his Prince and began to stammer an apology.

Dorian simply raised a slim hand to halt the unnecessary apology and continued. \"My letter was addressed to the cupboard under the stairs. I knew immediately that they were fully aware of my living situation and chose to do nothing about it. When I found my Father I knew beyond any doubt that I would never side with Dumbledore. Father told me that Dumbledore had known—had always known—that he was never the secret keeper. Dumbledore had been the one to perform the spell on Peter Pettigrew. He forced my Father into prison in order to keep the two of us separated. Once Father escaped Dumbledore did his best to keep us apart, and ultimately orchestrated the events that led to my Father’s death when he realized that despite his greatest efforts that Father was getting closer to simply coming to Voldemort and declaring his loyalty and potentially pulling me along with him.

\"Around a year ago I decided that I was through with even pretending to be on Dumbledore’s side and approached my godfather to ask for some advice about how to proceed. We decided to contact Tom directly to discuss an alliance. I spent a few months deciding how to best do this and then another month trying to get him to respond to me before we finally started talking.\"

\"I see.\" Lucius desperately wanted to ask what specifically had happened a year ago to spur him into action but he refrained. There were other things that he wanted to know and he doubted that the Prince would tell him anyway, if he hadn’t already. \"Is Severus your mate?\"

Severus choked at the question but Dorian merely smiled, glad that he could finally recognize his lover as his true mate. \"Yes.\"

\"How long have you known?\"

\"Nearly two years.\"

\"And you approached him then?\"

\"No, we were already together for a while before that.\"

Lucius raised an eyebrow as he looked at his friend who merely shrugged his shoulders. \"He was bloody gorgeous and he wanted me. Who in their right mind would turn him away, regardless of age?\" Severus said as his only defense for dating a boy who wasn’t even sixteen. Lucius rolled his eyes. \"Hell, Luc, I wanted him since he was thirteen. I had waited long enough for him.\" Dorian merely smirked at Lucius’ open shock.

\"I am amazed that the two of you managed to hide it from Dumbledore for all of that time.\"

\"If I am nothing else, Lucius, I am a consummate actor. All I have done since I entered this world was fill the role that had been handed to me. Did you ever think that it was anything else?\" Dorian asked waspishly, glaring at him, all trace of amusement gone.

Lucius hurriedly calmed him. \"No, no, I wasn’t doubting your skill to hide information when you wanted it hidden, I was merely commenting on how the damned man always seems to know everything. I meant no offense.\"

The men all sat in silence for a time, each thinking about their fight that they were facing with Dumbledore. After a few minutes, Severus accidentally dropped the sweet grass that he had been twisting in his hands and he and Dorian both reached for it at the same time, brushing hands lightly. Dorian instantly started to purr. Lucius looked at him strangely before he realized what was happening. He knew little about Incubi other than what his Prince had told them at dinner a few days ago and what he had observed of him already. They were suddenly awash in his sexual pull, leaving the men panting with desire.

\"Get control of yourself, now,\" Severus demanded harshly. Dorian visibly struggled to reign in the pull and finally managed to close it completely, or as completely as he ever could. Lucius raised an eyebrow at his friend’s tone with his leader but didn’t comment on it. It only fed more fuel to his burning questions about their strange relationship.

\"I will withdraw to my rooms,\" Dorian said, once again fully assuming his role. He had dropped it quite a bit during their conversation and holding onto his mask actually helped him to reign in his sexual desire which was directly linked to the pull that he would exude. He had used his Harry Potter mask to help conceal his Incubus heredity while a student and now he used his Black Prince mask to strengthen his control.

Remus nodded, concerned over his cub. It was incredibly rare for him to lose control, especially over such an innocent touch. Usually it would take a lot more teasing on Severus’ part to make him drop his barriers like that. \"Do you want me to go with you, cub?\"

\"No, I will be fine.\" He looked for a long time at Severus but no words were spoken and no emotions were visible through his mask. He finally turned away and headed back to his chambers.

Lucius looked at his long time friend. \"What was that? What is going on with you two?\"

\"Nothing, Lucius. When he loses control like that he needs to be snapped back to awareness or he can become dangerous, not that I would recommend you yelling at him like that. He tolerates it from me since we have been so close for so long.\"

Lucius made a sort of affirmative noise while still looking skeptical. He was certain that there was more to it than that but he would stop pushing for now.

Severus stood to leave as well, heading toward his rooms to check on his pet. He had been dangerously close to losing it earlier, something he hadn’t done in over a year. He must still be suffering from his long period of starvation while with the Dursleys. He should have gone to visit him at the muggles’ house sooner so he could feed.

Lucius turned to Remus, the only one who remained in the garden still. \"Does he always wear so few clothes?\"

Remus snorted. \"You were lucky he had on as much as he did. Incubi loathe clothing and he spends far more time each day stark naked than he does dressed. He wouldn’t bother with clothing at all if it weren’t for the fact that most of the Death Eaters would be distressed. In fact, the only reason he has clothing right now is that Lord Voldemort provided him with a full wardrobe. He’s given up on wearing clothes near his mate and I entirely, as he does with people he is truly comfortable with. His father rarely bothered with clothing either, although he wore it much more than Harry does.\"

Lucius blushed lightly. \"You mean if he gets more comfortable with me that he might come to meetings nude?\"

Remus laughed out loud. \"I’d guarantee it. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.\"