"Lord Evans?"
He heard a voice from outside his office door. Usually, on a busy night like this, no one would come to his office as they were too busy handling customers and such. Lisa had always been a quiet one and so it was quite rare for her to come to his office at all. Usually, one of his other staff would fetch him; for VIPs or 'difficult' people.
He raised an eyebrow before putting his paperwork away and wandlessly opening the door.
"Is there a problem?" he sighed.
"You told me to tell you if the Dark Lord showed up?"
Harry perked up. The Dark Lord was here again. After his letter and 'apology' he wasn't sure if he was going to come to Demeure again. Then again, if he learnt anything from his previous encounters with the man, his curiosity always got the better of him. The man sure love a Riddle.
"Yes..." he nodded.
"He's here...with Lord Loculus."
Harry nodded, "Thank you Miss Ashford."
She nodded timidly before leaving.
Harry rested his forehead on his table. How in Earth was the Dark Lord in the very next room and not trying to kill him?
The logic was inexplicable. Knowing what he had to do, he picked himself up from the very comfy chair and strapped his wand to his wand holster. He shook his head to get rid of any tiredness he may have collected from Transfiguration, Potions and DADA that day and stormed out of the room, looking very confident.
His eyes scanned the crowd and landed on what looked to be an older version of Tom Riddle. He was definitely not expecting that. Then again, he wasn't going to expect a pale snake-like creature from the graveyard. He almost shuddered at the thought.
He stalked over to the table, not paying any mind to those staring at him.
~~~
The meeting with Francois had gone well and Tom was more than happy about that. Although they had sat in that meeting for around 5 hours or so, it seemed that he still wasn't done ironing out the details. Voldemort had offered for the Vampire Lord to come to Gaunt Manor but, for obvious reasons, they suggested that they meet at Demeure des Ombres again. It was worth a shot.
They once again found themselves at Colten Alley staring at the wall before them. This time, it was only Tom and Severus as the youngest Malfoy was no longer needed and Lucius was busy on a mission.
Severus was not looking forward to having his Occlumency shields bypassed yet again and grimaced at the thought. He shook his head and walked into the bar with his cape billowing behind him.
This time, the lady at the counter simply let them through, knowing that they were high clientele and that it would not do well to question them. Besides, if they meant any harm, an alarm would have gone off by now.
They were greeted by the rather cheery atmosphere of the place and this time, knowing where they were going, made their way to their booth.
After a few compulsory words of greeting, completely useless in Tom's mind, they sat and began to lay out the basic outline of their contract. Severus had gone to a barstool and had a drink, exchanging small talk with a few Vampires surrounding him.
Before they could begin of the First Clause, however, Tom heard the room go somewhat quiet and then he felt that lure of Dark Magic.
He found the source and smirked.
~~~
Harry, or Noir, made his way over to their booth and bowed shallowly to Francois.
"Frank, my good man, how are you?" he greeted politely. Not many knew that he had a nickname. Most wouldn't ever picture him as a 'Frank'. Noir was not 'most'.
"I am very well, Noir." The man chuckled, "Ah."
He looked to Voldemort.
"Noir, it is my great honour to introd-..."
"I don't think he needs much introduction, Francois." Harry chuckled.
Tom raised an eyebrow, "Is that so?"
How on Earth could this man know who he was? He masked his Magical Signature and the Ministry and most people knew him as a disgusting snake-like creature. It was impossible.
"Indeed..." Why not? "Tom."
Francois gave him a confused look and Voldemort was more shocked than angry. Sure, he may have not liked that name but how on Earth did he know him?
They'd waited in an awkward silence for a while as Noir's, currently obscured, eyes looked into Tom's for some sort of emotion. Confusion was all he got.
"I'm afraid I must be off now," he said, breaking the silence. Tom and Frank nodded and Harry gave a shallow bow and effortlessly, gracefully turned on his heel and went around a corner, in the opposite direction of his office.
~~~
Harry snickered at Voldemort's shocked face. It was completely and utterly amusing. Tom had obviously wanted to talk to him but he saw right through it and left as quickly as he could. Luckily for him, Snape was there too so he wanted to say a quick 'Hello'.
He turned the corner and headed gracefully towards his ex-Potions Professor. To his surprise, the man seemed to be smiling. He never thought he'd live to see the day.
He stalked confidently over to the man, who seemed to not have noticed him yet. He had been talking to two Vampires sat on either side of him. The two had stopped talking and mid-sentence as Harry stood behind Snape.
"Severus," Harry greeted.
The man in question turned his head as quick as a Niffler ran if it saw gold and choked on his drink. It was him.
"How nice to see you here again, Severus!" he said joyfully.
"Do you know him?" the Vampire to his right mouthed. Severus shook his head fiercely.
Harry just chuckled, "Of course we know each other you were my Potions Professor, were you not?"
Severus was just confused. Not only was the man talking to him but apparently, he taught him as well. He had long ago ruled out the preposterous 'Potter-is-Noir' theory.
He nodded, "Wh-"
"Well I must be off now," he interrupted patting Severus on the back, "Good to see you again, Professor."
Technically, everything he said was true. Including the past tense 'were'. He WAS his Potions Professor. Now, however he was his DADA Professor.
He left the man to be questioned by the people he was talking to.
"You know THE Lord Evans?"
"You are THE Severus Snape?"
"We're you really a Death Eater?"
"You're a Professor?"
"You taught him?"
"What was he like?"
"Who is he really?"
Severus just kept his gaze on the man.
He smirked as he made his way back to his office to his giant pile of paperwork waiting for him.
As he was about to enter, however, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Acting on instinct, he flipped the person over his shoulder and whoever it was landed on the floor in front of him, surprisingly gracefully.
He registered who he was and inwardly laughed, "Apologies."
Tom brushed off his robes, quite annoyed, and nodded, "Not to worry." Probably shouldn't have attempted that on him, of all people.
As if he could read his thoughts, Noir chuckled.
The Dark Lord's shields were much like his own and would be impossible to penetrate, much like his own, but his and the Dark Lord's 'connection' allowed for him to read surface thoughts.
Sensing the man's confusion, "Do not worry, Tom. Your Occlumency shields are in place."
Tom furrowed his eyebrows in anger for checking his Occlumency shields, confusion at how he read his mind and above all, amusement at how Noir was handling the situation. It was like he hadn't just accidentally tried to defend himself against THE Dark Lord.
"Again with the use of a na-"
"You don't have to hide it from me...Is Marvolo better?"
Luckily for them, they were out of earshot from anyone there.
Tom frowned, "Fine."
"Care to join me in my office?" he asked, knowing full well that Tom couldn't stay. Francois was one to hold grudges. How would not appreciate being left alone like that.
Tom grimaced, "Unfortunately not."
Noir nodded, "I shall see you soon...Marvolo."
With that, he disappeared.
~~~
Harry was up in the Gryffindor Common Room after a long day at work. Dealing with drunk Werewolves and Vampires was no easy feat. Rather tiring.
"Harry?"
"Go to sleep Ron."
"Ok."
Thanks for reading guys!
Please don't hesitate to comment!
-Alysha