"Ah, Mr. Ashworth. Please, go ahead, come in." Orion Black waved Harry inside as the young man stuck his head through the fireplace. A moment later, Harry tumbled from said fireplace to land in an undignified heap on the rug in front of it.
Harry straightened himself up and brushed the soot from his cloak. The living room of the Black estate was impeccable, as always, but this time the furniture had been cleared away, leaving an empty space in the middle of the room. Aside from him and the Black family patriarch, the room was deserted, and the mansion was quiet, though Harry was sure there were house elves lurking nearby, waiting for a command from their master.
"Bellatrix said you wanted to talk to me."
"I did." Orion turned to Harry, a glass of firewhiskey in his hands. "Romulus and I have come to a decision. We will be bringing a vote of no confidence against the Minister. With a little luck, we will succeed, allowing us to install someone in power who will be more favorable to opposing this new threat."
"That's great," Harry agreed. "How did you manage to rally support for that so quickly?"
"We have our ways," came the vague reply. "However, that still leaves the question of who should succeed Minister Thornton in her office." Orion placed the glass down and moved his other hand from beneath his robes, revealing his wand. "However, that is not why I have asked you to come here."
"Then why?" Harry carefully hid his nervousness at the carefully choreographed movement. The meaning was clear-it was a challenge.
"This coming conflict," Orion began, "and I have no reason to doubt your and Bellatrix's word that there is, in fact, a danger coming, will likely shape the wizarding world for years to come. Sides will be chosen, battles will be fought. Ideologies and beliefs pitched against one another. Whoever emerges the victor will no doubt determine the course our world will take. We all must choose the side that we can stand behind. Some will choose to stand with those they believe will be victorious. Those are the cowards. Others will stand with those whose values they believe to be right. Those are the righteous fools. And others will choose to fight them all in order to do what's best for this world, our world. Those are the idealistic old men."
He shifted the glass around the table as he spoke, his voice low. "In order to succeed, we must choose our allies very carefully. We must find those we can trust. We must find those who are willing to fight for our cause, who are willing to die for our cause. Now tell me, Mr. Ashworth, which one of these are you?"
Harry was silent for a long moment, observing as Orion swirled the amber liquid around his glass. "I like to believe that I do what's best for our world," he finally replied.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, sir."
Orion looked up sharply. "Who exactly are you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Who are you?" The Black patriarch took a step forward. "I know you're not Harry Ashworth. No one by that name exists. For all intents and purposes, you've lied to me about other things, as well." Another step. "I understand that there are certain people out there who would prefer that their past not find them. But there's a storm brewing, and I need to know who I can trust. Can I trust you, whoever you are?"
Harry swallowed hard. This just wasn't his day. "How did you find out?" he asked.
"The documentation you have is extremely well done. For all intents and purposes, you created a near-perfect identity for yourself." Orion nodded, almost as if in approval. "Whoever you selected to do the forgeries did an extremely good job. However, while they did include a birth certificate for you, there is one thing that cannot be forged. The family registry. Each family member is magically linked to it, so it is constantly updated with births, deaths, and other significant events. Imagine my surprise when upon contacting them, the Ashworth family in Australia found no record of anyone named Harry. No one of your age, even."
"I see." Harry sighed. He hadn't yet thought about what to do about his fake identity. He had known it couldn't last forever, but it was early enough that he hadn't made plans for this particular eventuality, yet. "And you want to know who I really am."
"No."
"No?" Harry looked up in surprise. This wasn't exactly what he had expected. He'd expected questioning, demanding answers, about things he wasn't ready to tell.
"As I said, there are people who prefer their past to remain unknown. I respect that. However, if we truly are going to be fighting this dark lord together, I must know if I can trust you. I must know if I can trust you with my niece's life."
"Why don't you ask her, then?" Harry offered, figuring that it wouldn't hurt to tell him that Bellatrix was trusting him of her own free will. Granted, she was in it because it would benefit her in the long run, but still. "She knows that Ashworth is not my real name. In fact, she helped me set up this identity."
Orion hid his surprise well. "I'm assuming her story about how you two met is a fake, as well, then?"
"Not entirely. You could say it's an abridged version of the truth."
"Interesting," Orion said, inclining his head. "I would be most interested to know why Bellatrix decided to trust you, a complete stranger, the first time she met you. Why she thought you were important enough to bring you to my attention."
"I don't know," Harry replied honestly.
"And tell me, young Mr. Ashworth… you knew about this dark lord, well before Bellatrix informed you, yes?"
Harry hesitated a long moment before answering. "Yes, I had my suspicions. It was one of the reasons I came here." It was close enough to the truth to not be a lie.
"And what exactly were your plans for this dark lord? To join him, or to fight him?"
"To fight him."
"Most interesting." Orion looked Harry up and down. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why choose to fight him. Obviously, you could have moved elsewhere, far away. Why involve yourself in this conflict? And do not insult both of us by lying to me. I know that doing what's best for the wizarding world is not your true motivation. If not that, then which is it? Greed? Ambition?"
"Vengeance." Somehow, Harry managed to put all of his hatred for Voldemort into that single word. And it truly was what he wanted, more than anything else. He wanted vengeance for his parents, for Sirius, for everyone Voldemort had killed and would kill. For all the friends taken away, for a childhood denied, for a life burdened with the hopes and fears of an entire nation.
"For a loved one?" Orion asked gently.
"Not just one," Harry managed to grind out, earning himself a look of pity from the elder wizard.
"I see."
"I don't think you do," Harry replied evenly, without thinking. "He has taken everything from me. My family, my friends, my childhood. He took them and laughed. He delighted in it. He's caused pain and misery for more people than I can count Believe what you will about me, but I am going to stop him. I will kill him. With my bare hands, if I have to."
"Ah, at last, an honest reply." Orion chuckled. "Very good, very good."
"What?" Harry stared in confusion.
....
Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)
Free members get 2 chapters free.
Join Right Now