All Hail the Dark Lord, Or Something Idiotic Like That

Adding to the Inner Circle pt3

A/N: Not my story! Original available on ao3

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He didn't remember this prank war from his first time in Grimmauld, so he wasn't sure what he had changed to cause it, but he sure as hell was going to enjoy it! He hadn't had actual fun without something terrible hanging over his head in so very long!

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It was laughably easy to get away from the Order once they were all in Diagon Alley. Harry just had to say he needed to stop by the bank and then the bookstore. The Order members couldn't really go to his vault with him since he definitely wasn't going to give permission, and they could at least trust he would be passably safe in the bookstore afterwards. Ron and Hermione were going to make sure that it took them as long as possible at Madam Malkins and getting their potions supplies. It didn't buy Harry an exceptional amount of time, but he figured he could disappear for a good hour before anyone would get highly concerned.

He ducked into a small alley and dropped his glamour. Breathing in the relief of being in his own skin and having anonymity once more, he stretched his muscles and walked forward confidently. He really didn't miss the stares he always got when he was a teenager and before he left the public eye. Percy lived down a side-street from Diagon and only a few blocks away, so Harry happily wandered towards the flat he'd only been to once before.

He was only a dozen or so meters from Percy's flat when Harry paused as he saw a very familiar figure stalk determinedly into a shop just at the corner of the building in front of him. The shop didn't have a name above the door, only the common mortar and pestle that marked an apothecary. If Snape used this apothecary, then Harry assumed it must be exceptional, and he was definitely in the market for a new apothecary. Slug and Jiggers in Diagon tended to not have any of the darker or more dangerous ingredients he regularly used in potions, so Harry had been patronizing Madam Teague's apothecary in Knockturn Alley in the future. However, Madam Teague's prices were exorbitant since she really didn't have any competition in Diagon or Knockturn Alleys for what she offered. Harry, however, was given a hefty discount since he brewed quite a few of her darker, ready-made potions. Now he didn't have that partnership to fall back on though, and he wouldn't have access to his larger family vault for another couple years. He wasn't actually hurting for money, but funding a rebellion was probably going to end up being pretty expensive, so he was trying to take price into account more than he usually would.

He frowned in thought. If he followed, then that was taking away from his time with Percy, but Harry's curiosity finally won out as it usually did in the past and in the future both. Any apothecary that Snape thought was good, was one he just had to check out. Plus, there were some things he really did need to stock up on for his own personal brewing. It also didn't hurt that he got quite a bit of sick glee in maybe running into the acerbic man in a form he decidedly would not recognize. So, Harry strode forward and into the dimly lit and haphazardly cluttered store.

It was the smells that hit him first. He'd come to love potions as he brewed for hours during his mastery with someone who actually loved to teach and would explain things patiently, so the earthy smells of the potion ingredients tugged a little smile onto his lips. He knew he would never be the genius that Snape was, but he also guessed that Snape probably couldn't hold his own with Harry's knowledge of the Dark Arts at this point either. In Harry's mind that put them on equal footing, even if Snape didn't know that.

Harry did actually smile when he saw the collection of vials of vampire blood just sitting on a shelf with a ward around it that repelled any who had a solely light magical core from being able to see that it held. Harry hoped it was strong enough to keep aurors from raiding the place because he was already falling in love with the shop that clearly did not have a problem with dark ingredients. Merlin, he'd missed vampire Ron, well he missed Ron like a missing limb, but vampire Ron was mainly missed for the steady supply of blood for some quite inventive potions that became increasingly useful. Hey, if Ron got to snack on him, then he was more than allowed to take a little blood for potions ingredients!

Harry picked up a couple of the vials and grinned even broader at the price. Yes, it was very expensive, but not exorbitantly so like Madam Teague's. His eyes fell on some powered griffin's claw and tincture of hellebore that was just perfect and seemed extremely pure unlike what he was used to having to distill before he could even use it. Now, if he could just find some black dahlia petals that were preserved in stasis instead of dried...

"You are making a magical signature blocking potion," a silky voice drawled behind Harry. "That is quite a complex brew."

He wasn't sure why he still jumped at Snape's remark when he knew very well that he'd followed the man into the store, but he'd been happily filling a basket and had still been surprised by the silent approach of the spy. "I'm not sure what you mean," Harry stifled all emotion and turned to give his professor a very fake-innocent smirk at guessing the illegal potion he was most definitely going to brew.

Snape for his part just snorted in what Harry assumed might be amusement even though he'd never seen Snape amused at any point in his life before. "You have vampire blood in your basket; you have already crossed into doing something illegal," he informed Harry with a raise of his eyebrow. "Master Cretian does not judge those who frequent his store and provides only the best ingredients."

"Absolutely!" Harry exclaimed, letting his façade of nonchalance go for his excitement at the find. "I usually use Madam Teague's but just happened to stumble on this place. I'm never going back!" He added as he found the black dahlia petals and added them to the basket.

"Planning a crime?" Snape picked up some dahlia petals for himself and some freeze-dried tarantulas.

"Maybe," Harry smirked at the man, thinking this was the most civil conversation they'd ever had in his life. "You never know when you might need to rob a bank."

"You would need much more than just a magical signature blocker to even attempt that," Snape raised an amused eyebrow.

Harry shrugged. He'd done it with just Polyjuice potion and a dragon before, but he wanted to maybe not make the goblins quite so mad at him this time around. Actually, Polyjuice might be a good idea to brew though. He began to glance around for the ingredients.

Curious, he looked over and into the basket Snape was holding and gave the man a chuckle. "Well, if you keep my potions secret, I'll keep yours," he said teasingly, having seen that Snape was clearly brewing veritaserum, which was decidedly illegal if you weren't working directly for the ministry.

Snape leaned against the counter behind him, studying the strange man he'd definitely never seen before but who also looked oddly familiar for some reason. "I only spoke to make sure you know the blood must be added on the new moon or the hellebore will not be neutralized...I'd hate for a fellow potions enthusiast to poison themselves."

Harry's hand paused over the boomslang skin he was sorting through with the idea that he might make some Polyjuice potion for Sirius. Was Snape flirting?! Definitely not; he was decidedly imagining things! He had to be. That was absolutely not possible in any time or universe. Harry turned around, brushing his braid over his shoulder, accidentally exposing the cluster of vampire bites and the inked line of tattooed runes going up his neck.

Nope, he didn't imagine it. Snape's dark eyes flicked to the runes and up to his lips then eyes. Harry was not sure what was going on, but this was not acceptable...whatever it was! Deciding to ignore it, Harry held out a calloused hand to the man, "Hadrian Black," he offered in his most polite tone.

It really was his name, or at least part of his legal name. His full legal name was Hadrian James Potter-Black, but he never used his full name on anything. In his day-to-day life, it was just Harry. In his shadier dealings, it was always Hadrian Black. Surprisingly, no one ever seemed to realize that his full name couldn't possibly be Harry, so it was a good pseudonym that if he were ever called on would still be legal and no one could say he was trying to pretend to be someone else or falsify an identity.

"Severus Snape," his professor shook his hand with a firm grip and held on just a bit too long before letting go.

"I've heard of you. You're a genius when it comes to potions," Harry commented and continued to fill his basket with everything he needed for Polyjuice. "I'll never be your caliber. I just don't have the imagination for it, but I had to learn quite a bit during my mastery. I definitely know vampire blood works best in potions during a new moon if nothing else."

"I can see you've had some experience," Snape gestured to the bites on his neck, his hand coming just a bit too close. Yep, Harry was going to shut this down now. What the hell was happening?!