Son of a Lord

A Betrayal

With a lurch, Harry, Theo, and Voldemort appeared in Riddle Manor. 

Silence followed, utter silence that lay thick in the air, growing as the echo from their arrival dissipated into the air. Harry looked around, greedily taking in the black tiles, the grand staircase, the portraits hanging from the walls. 

He was home. 

Slowly turning, he looked up at his father, who's crimson eyes were already fixed on Harry. 

"Father I-" 

"Do not speak," Voldemort said softly, "Let me look at you." 

Harry closed his mouth, his hands balling into fists by his side. He imagined rage at his being caught, disappointment that he was not able to escape sooner, pain at the end of it all. But he didn't care. 

He repeated it in his mind, he breathed deeply. 

He didn't care, he didn't care, he didn't care, he didn't- 

Suddenly a hand was on his cheek. Harry flinched right away, jerking away from the touch he had expected to be hard, to be violent. But instead the hand stayed where it was, gentle and unmoving. Harry's gave flicked to his Father's, and he was astounded to see the crimson eyes soften a tad. 

The other hand rose and fell on Harry's shoulder, and the next second, Harry was roughly pulled into a stiff embrace. 

He could count the number of times his Father had hugged him on one hand, and though there were very few things Lord Voldemort was not proficient at, hugging was certainly one of them. It was oddly cold, Harry thought, as he was slowly released, weren't hugs supposed to be warm? At least that's what- 

"Fuck!" 

Harry's head wrenched to the side as the hand that had just so gently touched his cheek, came across Harry's face like lightning, making an awful cracking noise in the quiet room. 

"Harry!" he heard Theo cry out distantly. 

The next moment, Voldemort had grabbed a handful of Harry's hair and forced his gaze up to meet his own. 

"You never be so reckless again," he hissed. "Do you understand what your stupidity could've led to?" 

Revealing of death eater safe houses, tactics, plans, members' names. Harry nodded with difficulty. 

"Let him go," Theo said in a small voice from beside them. 

Slowly, dangerously, Voldemort released Harry, the tension in his hair easing and anger at Theo's inability to keep his mouth shut growing as Voldemort turned to face the smaller Potter boy. To Theo's credit, he stared the Dark Lord in the eye, albeit with his hands clenched into trembling fists beside him. 

Harry folded his arms, taking a slight step back, not wanting to interfere. If he was being honest, the twisting feeling in his stomach at the sight of his Father looking at Theo like he was something to eat was excitement. It had been too long since he had watched his Father torture something. He tried not to look too closely at the terrified flush in Theo's cheeks, telling himself that the younger boy had just been a distraction, a game to play with Lily and James Potter, a means to and end. 

And the end was here. The end was standing right in from of Harry, with his gleaming red eyes and long fingers holding a wand to Theo's throat, lifting his chin up slightly. 

"And who is this boy that has... latched onto you Harry?" Voldemort asked quietly. 

"Theodore Potter, Father," Harry said, avoiding Theo's desperate gaze. 

Voldemort laughed, "The poor Potter heir dabbling in dark magic," he crooned, his wand digging into Theo's neck. "Whatever to do with you." 

A quiet sniffle, and there were tears running down Theo's cheeks, "Harry please," he gasped, regret seeping into every morsel of his voice. 

Harry knew then that Voldemort would never keep the boy; his offer at the Ministry was solely to stab a knife into Lily and James' side, twisting it until it hurt. 

Voldemort just looked vaguely amused, "Listen how he calls to you Harry," he chuckled, "Like a hopeless animal. However did you cope at Hogwarts?" 

Harry clenched his fists behind his back, staring blankly before him, "Watching him ruin himself with magic he couldn't handle certainly made things more...exciting." 

Voldemort laughed and Theo's sniffles turned into a outburst of anger, a ragged sound of betrayal that almost made Harry smile. 

"You did this to me on purpose?!" Theo yelled, ignoring the wand at his throat. "Those nights practicing- practicing dark magic so you could what? Have some fun!?" 

Harry finally turned to Theo, staring him in the eye, watching the boy's chest heave with frightened, furious breaths. 

"Yes," Harry said simply, "You didn't believe I cared for you did you?" 

Theo said nothing, his eyes darting away before begrudgingly meeting Harry's again. 

Harry laughed coldly, "Oh you did! Isn't that just adorable." 

Voldemort laughed with his son, "You've had your fun, now get rid of the Potter boy, I have much to discuss with you." 

Theo stiffened, saying nothing but staring at Harry with wide, frightened eyes, his mouth opening and closing though no words were spoken. 

Harry's eyes flitted over Theo, and he sighed, "I can't." 

Theo exhaled shakily, his eyes closing in relief. 

Harry smirked, "My wand was taken by the Ministry, may I use yours Father?"

Theo's eyes snapped open, "No!" he cried, twisting in Voldemort's grip, "Harry please!" 

"Shut up," Harry said mildly, "You were stupid to think that I enjoyed your company, and even stupider that the Dark Lord would welcome you at his side." Voldemort handed his wand to Harry, who twisted it in his fingers slowly. "I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to kill your worthless parents-" 

"Our parents," Theo blurted, "They're your parents too Harry, we're- we're brothers! You can't kill me!" 

Harry smiled, "The only family I have is the Dark Lord, not that worthless excuse for a wizard who gave you up the minute he found out your were practicing dark magic." Harry stepped closer to Theo, "And you were never my brother." 

Theo stared up at Harry as the wand was raised to his forehead. 

"Avada Kedavra." 

Notes:

It's been half a year since I updated- 

I just felt bad knowing I left it unfinished, so I finished it. This will be the last chapter of this fic, and I'm so grateful to everyone who voted and commented. It's been a wild journey trying to juggle everything as well as write this, so thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoyed the end.