Keeping The Dark Lord (on his toes)

Chapter - 22 plans ( 28 February 1995 )

~Voldemort~

Voldemort jumped as the wards on his study alerted him to someone at the door and he hurriedly spelled everything away before allowing the person to enter.

The person in question happened to be the very reason for the now-hidden plans and Voldemort forced back an amused smile as ‘Dimitri’ looked around the study in suspicion, “So are you going to let me in on your next plan for world domination or are you just going to sit there and make it seem like you’ve been doing nothing but staring at your empty desk for the past five hours?”

The young man walked forward as he spoke and placed the tray he’d been carrying, onto the table. Voldemort stood and helped to place the dishes down before removing a bottle of wine and two glasses from the one cabinet and pouring a glass for each of them.

It had taken two months but he’d slowly managed to get the other man to spend at least one day a week only with him. He doubted that the man even realized that they were technically ‘date nights’, and wondered what his reaction would be once he finally noticed it.

“If you must know, I was working on another project, but now that you mention it, I have recently been slacking on…”, he didn’t even get to finish his sentence before Dimitri stuffed a piece of apple into his mouth with a scowl.

“Don’t even joke about that! I will…eh-I mean…Ghost will have my hide if he finds out that you decided to go from taking over the Ministry to World Domination!” Dimitri looked panicked at his slight slip up but Voldemort pretended not to notice as he tried to both savor and ignore the tingling sensation that his mate’s fingers had left on his lips.

He realized that even though his mate was someone disguised, it didn’t stop their souls from recognizing each other and it made him yearn to see what his mate really looked like.

He pulled his attention back to Dimitri as the man talked animatedly about the latest trouble that his Death Eaters had gotten into, but he couldn’t help but notice that the other man seemed to be less enthusiastic than before.

Voldemort knew the cause of it…had known ever since Dimitri had hinted at it on his birthday, and it frustrated him that it had taken so long to plan, but he only needed one more letter to finalize his plans. He just hoped that his mate would like the surprise, though it had been tricky to disguise it as mere meetings.

A letter appeared beside his plate and Voldemort casually picked it up before shaking his head in disinterest and throwing the letter into one of his drawers, though on the inside his heart was beating loud enough that he was sure his mate could hear it from across the table.

Luckily Dimitri paid it no mind and they continued their meal as Voldemort asked him about the rest of his day and his plans for the next few days. Dimitri glanced at him in suspicion, though at this point it was more of a playful look than anything else, “I don’t have much going on for the rest of the week, probably the same I have been doing for the past few months, I guess…why?”

Voldemort pointed toward his plate and the young man gave a slight huff before he continued eating while watching Voldemort intently, “Your brother sent me a few scrolls containing the vows of various creature clans, and although I immediately accepted their vows, I want to go see their living conditions for myself.”

Dimitri merely nodded but Voldemort could see the excitement in his eyes at the thought of being able to leave the castle for a while.

He wasn’t complaining about the fact that his mate had stayed close to him these past few months, but it did bother him that his mate wasn’t even trying to leave the castle for more than walks in the garden and some flying on the Quidditch pitch. It wasn’t healthy.