blood bound

chapter 23: Meeting the Family

A full two weeks had passed since the meeting between Voldemort and the Hogwarts teacher delegation had occurred, forcing the Dark Lord to decide who was coming to the follow up meeting. Despite being less than two hours from needing to be there he still wasn't sure if he should risk leaving his mates behind. On the one hand it would keep anyone from the opposite side from getting ideas about hurting them, on another leaving them behind could put them at risk from any dissenting minions. Then there was the fact both would be furious if he didn't include them, not to mention the likelihood that one of the staff had the presence of mind to invite Harry's adoptive family...

Voldemort finally decided that as long as he kept his guard up it might actually be safer to keep them with him when they attended the meeting. That decided he turned from his wardrobe to his napping mates and smirking at how he had worn them out. He sent light stinging hexes at them to wake them up. The yelp that Harry gave off and the way Severus rolled from the bed, brandishing his wand still half asleep amused him to no end.

"What was that for?" Harry complained as he retrieved his own wand and grumpily scrambled out of the bed, not even bothering to move faster than Severus or toss a retaliatory spell towards their Dominant.

"Get washed and dressed, we leave for the follow up meeting with Flitwick in two hours," Voldemort said curtly, smirking the entire time as he leaned back against the wall, enjoying watching them follow his instructions.

He and Severus still hadn't taken action against the Dursleys, nor had Dumbledore made a peep since Rita's article and the stripping of the Headmastership but Voldemort still felt they were making amazing progress on all fronts. Of course the next time he saw Skeeter he hoped that Harry wasn't nearby since he wanted to have a word with her about her ambush attempt at the robe shop. It was a pity that she had disappeared, probably into some Auror safehouse to avoid the fall out of her last article. They must have run into her just barely before she took herself off to wherever she was now.

Then there was also the fact that the reports which had arrived during the week they were on bed rest reminded him about the prophecy record since one of the Unspeakables had let slip that the original prophecy had somehow changed. He had decided it would eventually need to be addressed personally but that it could likely wait a couple of years while he firmly established the mating bond. There was suspicion that the original prophecy had been somehow enchanted and that the closely guarded secret was not the prophecy but the changing of the record. For now he would let Dumbledore's useless order waste time and effort protecting something that he wasn't ready to investigate if only to avoid facing nearly killing his mate so many times.

"~You will be taking me with you.~" Nagini commanded imperiously bringing his mind back to the moment as she slid over the floor towards her human.

Voldemort snorted in amusement at her regal act but didn't argue as he picked her up and helped her wrap around his body as his mates came over to them ready to leave. They quickly made their way to the meeting, picking up Lucius, Narcissa, and the Lestrange brothers to accompany them on the way. They apparated into a small clearing just outside the cave Harry had met up with Sirius in during his fourth year before the third task. The irony was not lost on Harry as he not only recognized the place but saw Sirius as Padfoot waiting with several of the Hogwarts staff and the Weasleys, even Bill and Charlie were there.

"Whatever you do don't mention that we're fully mated or that some of the Death Eaters decided to plan our wedding," Harry warned his mates in a low tone of voice when he saw who all was at the meeting.