CHAPTER ONE

It was mid-August of 1995 when the Lestranges felt their Dark Marks heat up more potently than usual. They had almost ignored it, for the evenings were unusually hot during that summer and thus the Dark Mark was barely a nuisance. Wordlessly, the three men that were left of House Lestrange Apparated to their Lord's seat. Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, together with their grandfather Enyalios Lestrange, arrived at Riddle Manor with a sense of trepidation.

So far, ever since the Dark Lord had gained power within the Wizengamot in recent years, everything was going according to plan. Because of their Lord's status as Lord Slytherin and Lord Gaunt, and his silver tongue and good looks, Lord Voldemort had won over the majority of the Wizengamot – including the Minister for Magic. Dumbledore remained as problematic as ever, but this took no one by surprise. The meddling old coot could not help stick his nose in the business of others.

The Lestranges had been among the last to arrive, along with Lord Yaxley and Severus Snape, Lord Prince, who was also a Potions Master at Hogwarts. Augustus Rookwood was present, Evan Rosier looked bored, Barty Crouch Junior was filling his goblet, Antonin Dolohov glowered at the fact they had the audacity to come a little late (in his mind), as were the Carrows, the Averys, the Rowles and Mulciber Younger and Elder. The Malfoys – Lucius and Narcissa – were already seated close to their Lord. Bellatrix sat next to Narcissa, who was daintily fanning herself, and glared daggers at her former family.

It had been six months since Enyalios could finally file for a divorce between his grandson and the mad Black witch. The whole affair had almost caused a gigantic scandal that the papers lapped up eagerly; the first divorce between two prominent pureblood families in two centuries was big news, and everyone knew it.

Rodolphus, on his part, was more than relieved to be finally rid of the woman. He had gotten quite numb with her embarrassing behaviour in the past. He had been humiliated by Bellatrix in public since the day they married. Her fawning and obsessive behaviour with their Lord had gone on for far too long, and Rodolphus could not wait to be able to restore some of his lost dignity. He was Heir to the House of Lestrange; he deserved better than a mad wife who couldn't produce him an heir, to add insult to injury.

Lord Voldemort, formerly known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, greeted his followers with a small smile. The man looked quite young – early thirties – at the least but in actuality he was at most seventy. His dark hair fell in waves and his beady crimson eyes fixed onto them like a predator surveying prospective prey.

"Ah, my dear Enyalios, Rodolphus and Rabastan. Yaxley, too, and Severus! Lovely, we are all complete at last. Come and have a seat. We have much to discuss," Lord Voldemort informed silkily as his familiar, Nagini, slithered up the table to join them for the meeting.

Rodolphus hated the bloody snake more than anything in the world. He had seen her kill and eat people he had once considered friends and allies; he had seen her kill traitors too, but Rodolphus could still not bring himself to even consider being civil to the snake. The feeling seemed to be mutual, because Nagini hissed at them all threateningly.

"So, our bid to seize the Wizengamot and infiltrate the Ministry is becoming more and more of a success," Lord Voldemort stated as the Lestranges sat in the open seats near him that he had reserved especially for them. "We have gained allies from Light defectors, including the Macmillan and Smith families. Augustus, how are we doing on the Unspeakable front?"

"We have managed to put ten of our people in the Unspeakable ranks in the past year, my Lord," Augustus replied immediately. "It was five the year before. Five more are still on the consideration list."

Voldemort nodded, a cold smirk etched onto his face. "Very good."

"Thirty of our people have also managed to be accepted into the Auror academy and have secured jobs in the Department for Magical Law and the Department for Magical Law Enforcement," Evan Rosier continued.

Voldemort nodded again, his smile growing. "Excellent. Lucius, Severus, Enyalios, how are we doing with gaining more of the majority of seats? With the up and coming laws that are being drafted with our plans and ideology in mind, we cannot afford an opposition with power to stop us."

"As you may already be aware, my Lord, the majority of the Wizengamot is either allied to one of us or to yourself, while others have either opted to remain neutral or have no overriding opinion that could pose a problem," Lucius responded smugly. "As for the most prominent Light families – the Abbots, the Bones family, the Longbottoms, the McKinnons – they, save the Bones family, remain obstinate in their ways and follow the words of Albus Dumbledore."

As a sneer rippled around the room, Voldemort laughed. "Yes, how predictable." He then frowned. "Lucius, I do believe you missed one."

Lord Malfoy paled quite quickly. "My Lord?"

It was a good thing Dark Lords were above the vulgar convention of rolling their eyes, or Lucius would have been met with one. "Yes, Lucius. You neglected one. What of the Potters?"

The mention of that family put a cold damper on the mood of the meeting. Rodolphus found himself feeling quite nervous. He had known James Potter and his wife Lily Evans – Muggleborn, much to Rodolphus' dismay – at Hogwarts. James had been bred and trained for the Lordship and according to his grandfather, had been almost as formidable as his father Fleamont in the Wizengamot.

However, James Potter had died fourteen years previously. His Lordship had worked as an Auror and on assignment, he had been killed – leaving Lily Potter widowed and his then infant son already as a young Lord. All that people knew of Harry Potter was that he was currently attending Hogwarts and was rather … peculiar, if rumours were to be believed. Apparently Lily had not given him a standard pureblood upbringing.

Rodolphus sneered at this. How would a Mudblood know how to raise a pureblood properly anyway?

"No word, my Lord," Lucius admitted, looking quite grim. "I have written to Lady Potter, as has Narcissa, several times and all we get sent back are very … interesting … answers, telling us to leave her and her son alone on the subject of further curbing of dark creature rights and taking Mudbloods from their families to integrate them into our world earlier or we'd end up as a tea-cosy."

Severus Snape chuckled at hearing this, which shocked quite a lot of people. Severus was well known for his immovable mask of steel. Emotion was not something Severus was in a habit of sharing with anyone, let alone the Dark Lord and his followers.

"That sounds like Lily," Severus informed fondly. "I remember when Potter and his friends had messed with our potion for our coursework and the four upstarts walked around with itchy boils for about two weeks."

Rodolphus permitted himself to chuckle slightly; Rabastan was grinning like a Cheshire cat. They remembered that quite clearly, though never figured out that it had been Evans, as she was back then, who had been responsible. Potter and his friends had been to sheepish to admit who had done it, despite people badgering them to confess.

"If you are so close to her and her son, Severus, why don't you tell us a little about the boy?" Yaxley drawled. "And why are you not keeping a closer eye on him?"

"I am keeping a close eye on him," Severus' good mood had vanished in an instant. "As for the character of the young Lord Potter, he is a precocious child. He can find hidden meanings behind words quicker than his Slytherin friends and doesn't mince his words. He is … passable in Potions."

"Wow! A compliment," Barty Crouch teased, causing chuckles to run around the room.

Snape suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Harry has talents in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration. He is among the rare students who I know to not fall asleep in Professor Binns' lessons, along with Draco and one Hermione Granger."

"HOW?" chorused several of the people present.

"He must have nodded off for a few seconds, at the least," Rabastan protested. "It is literally impossible to stay awake with that ghost as teacher."

"Nonetheless, Harry, Draco and Miss Granger have managed it – apparently by putting noise cancelling earplugs into their ears. But it would seem the boy has the most affinity for animals, specifically magical creatures."

"Magical creatures?" Bellatrix snorted. "The itty bitty new lord is another pathetic useless bottom wiper for animals?"

"Bellatrix!" Narcissa snapped. "Hold your tongue."

Snape continued as though nothing had happened. "On my previous visit to see Lily and Harry, it would seem that his closest animal companion – next to an owl by the name of Hedwig – is a Runespoor."

"A Runespoor?!" more aghast outcries came.

"Indeed. Apparently, one head helps Harry with his studying, another head helps him prepare for social occasions and the third head has an inclination for art and spends most of its time doing portraits and landscapes," Snape responded, having to fight to keep his expression dower and neutral and not laugh too much with amusement.

"That's insane," Dolohov commented through a short laugh.

"I would like to know how in Merlin's name the kid keeps the Runespoor in check," Rookwood added.

Lord Voldemort leant back in his chair, listening with interest. Voldemort had never tried to get too close to the young Potter Heir; as a child of Light, Voldemort had assumed Lily would have tried to stop him from ever getting close to her son. He was permitted to visit only once a year. Lily had a secret to keep, after all. Maybe he should have made more of an effort to get to know the boy? "Perhaps you should talk to her Ladyship, Severus. You have been friends since childhood, and I think she trusts you more than Lucius or Narcissa combined. We need her son on our side. Everything depends on it."

"Forgive me, my Lord, but I hardly see why a fifteen-year-old boy is of such importance?" Amycus Carrow questioned. "He sounds like a right loon to me."

In about five seconds, Amycus was on the floor in screaming pain as Lord Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse soon dealt with his loose tongue.

After about a minute, Voldemort stopped the curse and said silkily, "Harry Potter is Heir not only to the Potter line, but several powerful magical bloodlines. Peverell, for one. Black, for the other." This made a lot of eyes widened. "He is also descended from both Merlin and Morgana themselves in addition to Godric Gryffindor. Because of this, Harry is control of the seats that decide whether we will attain complete control of the Wizengamot, or not. Should Dumbledore sway him to the Light, the Light will have the power to stop us, since he will have been turned into nothing but their puppet."

This news made the Death Eaters shift nervously in their seats. Amycus had his head bowed in shame and his eyes glued to the table.

"So, how do you propose we win Harry Potter's favour?" Enyalios dared to ask his old friend.

"We could spend our valuable time by trying to win him politically, but frankly we cannot afford that. So I decided the best way to do it, is by the oldest method of all," Lord Voldemort responded rather brightly. That was never a good sign. "Marriage."

A lot of people tried not to choke on their own saliva. Voldemort continued, "I am unaware of any marriage contracts made for Harry by Lord and Lady Potter, which means he is ripe for courting. I contemplated long and hard upon which one of you should receive the task of trying to win his hand."

"My L-Lord," Severus tried not to stutter. "You are not suggesting an arranged marriage, because Lily would never agree to such a thing."

"Oh no, no, Harry will get a choice, but I will give him the flowers from which he can pick," Voldemort grinned. Oh how he enjoyed seeing his followers squirm! He smirked as he turned to one of them. "No I have heard from Lady Potter that his preference is for males, so bearing that in mind … Evan, you are still a young man."

Evan paled whiter than any of the ghosts at Hogwarts. "My Lord, I … I don't think I can do this – the Lord is still fifteen. He is not off age! And I am not even of high enough standing to be an appropriate match for the boy. Lady Potter would never consider me. "

"I am aware, Evan. But betrothals have been made before for children as young as eight and the family of Rosier's fortunes have been growing thanks to you," Voldemort pointed out. "I am not ordering you to marry the boy – yet. I am ordering a few of you to woo him. Court him, before the Light gets to him. So, Evan, you will not be alone in this."

Barty Crouch glugged a little. "Who … who else?"

The smirk on the Dark Lord's face widened. Uh-oh. "Why, you of course, Barty!"

Barty looked ready for the ground to swallow him whole.

Voldemort then turned his shiny red eyes to Rodolphus. "And naturally, Rodolphus. The Heir to one of the oldest Houses, and the grandson of my best friend, cannot stay unmarried for long."

Rodolphus felt like his entire world had just been shattered into a million tiny little pieces. He had just recovered from a blitzkrieg that was a marriage to Bellatrix and never wanted to marry ever again. Harry was a young Heir; Lady Potter would see Rodolphus as soiled goods and not even good enough for her son. Evan and Barty had never been married before and were twice as good looking. Rodolphus already stood no chance.

The rest seemed to realise it too, because Augustus, Antonin and even Yaxley sent looks that resembled sympathy.

Voldemort had not seen this because he narrowed his eyes at Rodolphus, clearly sensing his hesitation. "Is there a problem Rodolphus?"

"None, sir," Rodolphus replied firmly, trying to keep his voice in control.

The Dark Lord seemed satisfied with that answer. "Good! Then it is settled. I see we have also concluded our business, so you are excused for the rest of the evening. Dismissed!"

Without waiting for another look or order, Rodolphus, Rabastan and their grandfather Apparated straight to Lestrange Manor.

"Holy Avalon, what are you going to do?" Rabastan demanded as soon as they were in the safety of their home. "You cannot go through with this again!"

"At least I have a chance of courtship this time," Rodolphus answered with ice in his voice. "At least Harry is given a choice. Besides, he will not pick me – I know that for certain."

"Nonsense," his grandfather contradicted sternly. "Do not sound self-piteous, Rodolphus. You are a handsome man, an intelligent one to boot, a skilled Healer and you are trusted in pureblood circles. Furthermore, our House is old and would be a better choice than Rosier or Crouch when it comes to the age of the name. You stand as much chance as Evan and Barty, maybe even more."

Rabastan was not as convinced, and for good reason.

"Lady Potter will smell a rat from the moment Evan, Barty and Rodolphus show up," Rabastan pointed out. "She has spent her adolescence sniffing out James Potter's plots; she is a seasoned scheme blood hound at this point! We will not even be able to hide anything from her."

"I suspect our Lord has taken this into consideration," Lord Lestrange assured his grandsons. "Our Lord has no doubt been planning this for some time. Lord Potter is almost ready to fully take over from his mother, which means he will be legally considered an adult. This also means the Light will be swarming like vultures, more so than they already are. We cannot afford to lose Lord Potter to them."

"Who is to say he would even consider what Barty, Evan or I have to say?" Rodolphus demanded. "Both the late Lord Potter and the Lady Regent have a famous stubborn streak, and I am willing to bet a decent amount of Galleons the young Lord Potter has a stubborn streak of his own. He will not allow himself to be controlled."

"It is not about control," his grandfather responded. "You are to advise him, all three of you. His Light ideology comes from his mother, no doubt. But if he can be persuaded that not all legislation suggested by the Dark is inherently evil, or what other Merlin-forsaken nonsense the Light tries to tell people, then we have an even better chance of being taken seriously. A few Light allies is not enough to change people's prejudices."

Rodolphus did not look convinced. A thought suddenly popped into Rabastan's head.

"Stupid question. How are Evan, Barty and Rodolphus supposed to woo a boy who is gone for most of the year?" Rabastan snorted. "The boy is doing his O. this year – that causes enough stress as it is!"

"I do believe that they will have to come up with a solution," Enyalios smiled a little, a twinkle in his eyes. "I must say, I doubt this year will be boring, for anyone involved!"

Rodolphus bloody hated that twinkle. It meant his grandfather was entertained and Rodolphus knew the moment Enyalios Lestrange became entertained, either someone was going to be destroyed politically or messy romantic drama was afoot.

Neither would be a very good option.

This is my first attempt at a political marriage/alternative-time-line story! It is rather exciting for me because even in my own work I have not written many political marriage stories so this is going to be an adventure for me too.

Once again, characters belong to JK Rowling as does the world, and I hope you cannot wait what chaos might ensue!

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