Haven't thrown in a disclaimer in a while, mostly because I feel like I shouldn't have to. You're on a fan fiction website... I'm a fan of Harry Potter... and this is my fiction! But for arguments sake.

I'm not JKR and I don't own these characters or stories. I just play with them!

Chapter 13 The Recruitment

The following week was a busy one. The Order meeting had been rescheduled and Dumbledore was finally able to reveal all that he had learned from Harry. As much as The Order needed to know that is, Harry's real identity was kept secret per James's request. Everyone was horrified at the though of one horcrux, let alone five! They discussed where the remaining four could be hiding, and Harry told them of the attacks he was aware of, such as the McKinnon and Bones families, and cautioned everyone to hide using the Fidelius Charm. He also suggested safety measures such as having code words to discretely signal trouble, and passwords or secret questions to confirm a person's identity before discussing any Order secrets or allowing anyone into your home.

Some thought Harry was overreacting, others wondered why they weren't already doing such things, Mad Eye was just impressed, but they all agreed to implement the new safety procedures.

James couldn't help but feel a sad sense of pride at seeing Harry up in front leading all these people into war. He was quiet the sight to behold, his thick black hair was now long enough to tie back at the nape of his neck, the sleeves of his black robes were pushed up to reveal his scared fore arms. The word BLOODTRAITR, almost proudly, displayed as he spoke and reviewed plans with the entire Order. That was another thing James was proud of, unlike Dumbledore, Harry included everyone in their plans and he had to admit that did instill a strong sense of hope and unity among the group. Harry knew how to lead.

As the week progressed, Lily and Peter started their jobs. Lily's parents had already been killed in a Death Eater raid at the beginning of Feburary, causing her broken relationship with her sister to sever completely. Lily had been staying with friends and the Potters since school ended. Peter moved in with Sirius in his flat in London, while Remus stayed at the Potters. He would be leaving for France soon anyway, Dumbledore had a connection there that would put Remus in touch with a few neutral packs, hopefully Remus could sway them to join their side. Harry was considering finding his own place, but for now he was content to live with his family.

Before long, it was Saturday, the Day of Mrs. Notts Summer Soirée.

Merlin that sounds pompous! Harry thought to himself as he struggled with the bow tie on his dress robes. As he was attempting to tie it, James entered the room, knocking on the door frame. "Are you ready?" He asked.

"Almost." Harry responded, fingers fumbling around the fabric at his neck.

"Merlin's balls Harry, who taught you how to tie a tie?" James exclaimed, forgetting that Harry grew up orphaned with less than caring muggles. James immediately regretted the words as he spoke them. Harry just looked pointedly at James.

"Right, sorry." James muttered as he entered the room and stood in front of Harry.

"Hold still. There! Much better." He said as he gave the bow one final adjustment.

"Ready?" James asked again.

"As I'll ever be." Harry responded.

"That's the spirit!" James threw his arm around Harry and the two made their way downstairs where Charlus and Dorea were waiting.

The party was held in one of the many beautiful rooms inside the giant manor. The room was predominately grey, with accents of gold. Sparkling chandeliers hung above and shinning gold fixtures adorned the walls supporting small glowing orbs of light. People were milling about in every direction as elves carried trays of food on their heads.

Mr and Mrs Nott were standing at the entrance greeting everyone as they entered, after a polite hello and an official introduction to Mr. Nott they made their way into the ball room. Dorea spotted a friend of hers across the room and left to go speak with her.

"Charlus!" A voice called out to Harry's right. A skinny man with black hair, speckled throughout with grey, and a goatee to match walked up to greet them.

"Arnie! How are you?" Charlus greeted warmly. After a moment of conversation between the two older men, Charlus turned to put his arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Harold, this is Arnie Fincher, he was a good friend of your fathers in school."

"Very nice to meet you ." Harry bowed.

"Arnie this is Fleamont's son Harold Potter." Charlus introduced.

"My stars!" Arnie exclaimed, grasping Harry's hand. "Fleamont's son! I wasn't aware that you even existed my boy! But your father was a bit of an odd duck, God rest his soul. Never heard another word from him after he moved away and married your mum!"

"Yes sir, they were both rather private." Harry replied.

"Wonderful Quidditch player he was! Would have won Slytherin the cup our last year if it wasn't for that rouge bludger!" He sent an accusatory glare in Charlus's direction. Charlus smirked and shrugged his shoulder. "I don't know what you're talking about Arnie."

"Of course you don't, you dirty cheat!" Arnie laughed heartily and Charlus smiled as well.

"Say Harold, you must have inherited quite a bit from your Father's estate?" Arnie questioned rather loudly.

"That's correct, I sold all of it and moved back here a couple weeks ago." Harry noticed a few of the people around him were eavesdropping.

"You must have aquired a large sum of gold after that! Your father was worth quite a lot." Mr. Fincher obnoxiously stated.

Harry's was unsure how to respond to such a comment and merely nodded his head in acknowledgement. He was uncomfortable that everyone around him was now under the impression that Harry was filthy rich. Technically he was filthy rich, having entirely cleaned out the Potter and Black vaults at Gringotts, but he didn't want everyone to know.

Suddenly, another man with a young woman walked up to Harry, introducing himself and his daughter. Charlus looked exasperated by this, but James just smirked. Harry was confused by their reactions until the man excused himself for a moment, leaving his daughter with Harry.

"Would you like to dance?" Harry suggested, after a few awkward seconds. Thanking his lucky stars that Dorea had offered a quick dancing lesson this morning, insisting that as a pure blood, this was something Harry would be expected to know. While neither Fleamont or Euphemia would've considered themselves blood purists, they were still pure blooded Slytherins from old families and would have raised their son to have the manners of an aristocrat.

The girl happily agreed to a dance and as Harry led her onto the floor, he discretely sent a rude hand gesture to a smirking James.

This happened several more times over the next hour. It seemed everyone with eligible daughters was eager to meet the rich new bachelor. Harry was forced to make a hasty retreat when a man introduced Harry to his fourteen year old daughter. The poor girl obviously did not want to be there, or dance with Harry. So before the father could make an excuse to leave, Harry made his. Excusing himself to a table in the corner occupied only by men. Harry scanned the faces searching for James or Charlus but didn't see either of them. He noticed Arnie though, and Harry made his way over to the man.

"Harold! You've been dancing the night away!" Arnie laughed and handed Harry a freshly poured tumbler of firewhiskey.

"No thanks to you!" Harry smirked as he accepted the glass. "Now that they know I'm rich they're on me like vultures!" He whispered the last part to avoid offending anyone who might over hear.

Arnie just laughed at Harry. "You're too polite, son!"

"Indeed." A voice drawled from behind Harry. He turned around to find two men standing there, one with white blonde hair and an obvious sneer, and the other with wavy black hair and sharp aristocratic features.

"Abraxas! Orion! Allow me to introduce you to the son of an old housemate of ours!" Arnie said as he put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "You remember Fleamont? This is his son Harold Potter!"

"Ah yes, the long lost Potter." Abraxas voice seemed to creep across the space between them as he extended his hand towards Harry. "It's nice to meet you at last."

"I'm pleased to meet you as well, sir." He responded respectfully, while strengthening his occlumency shields.

"This is Abraxas Malfoy and Orion Black." Arnie introduced as the two shook hands, though Harry already knew who they were. Harry shook Orion's hand and greeted him but the other said nothing.

"Well Potter, it seems you could have you pick among the young ladies present. Should we expect any engagements soon?" Abraxas asked, tipping his head back to look down his nose at Harry.

Engagements? Good Lord, these people didn't mess around did they? Harry thought to himself. Though the question caught him off guard, he kept his face composed.

"I don't believe so." He smiled "I would need to become more acquainted with the woman and her family before making any proposal."

This seemed to pleasantly surprise the two men in front of him. Obviously misunderstanding Harry's reasons for requiring more information before a proposal, Orion spoke up. "Yes, unfortunately these days one must thoroughly check a young lady's bloodline before any sort of arrangements are made." He said disdainfully.

"Such Filth!" Came a voice from behind Orion, Harry didn't need to see the face to recognize the bigoted screech of Walburga Black. Harry was very shocked to see how short she was in person, next to the taller than average frame of Sirius's father she looked rather harmless, but Harry knew better. Looking over Orion's shoulder at Walburga, Harry also noticed several other groups of people he recognized. All Death Eaters. Harry skin began to prickle and he discretely brushed his hand over his chest, feeling for the wand tucked away in the pocket.

"My wife, Walburga." Orion introduced, placing a hand on the mouthy little witch's back. She haughtily offered her hand and Harry took it, placing a brief kiss on her knuckles.

" , very pleased to meet you." He said as he forced himself not to release her hand too quickly.

She smiled and Harry tried very hard not to grimace.

"How refreshing, a young man with manners, and a sense of loyalty to the purity of his family name. Even if that name is Potter." She practically sneered, not even attempting to hide her dislike.

With great effort on his part, Harry bit his tongue. Choosing to accept the 'compliment' she began with, he simply offered a polite "thank you ma'am" and a tight smile.

Clearly this had been the correct answer, because now they were all smiling at him.

"We need more young men willing to stand by our traditions." Orion stated as he looked Harry directly in the eyes, grey meeting grey.

Abraxas placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, his sneer replaced with a smile, though Harry couldn't distinguish much of a difference between the two expressions. "What we need, is young men willing to fight for our traditions." He raised an eyebrow questioningly at Harry.

Shite! Shite! Shite! Are they asking me to become a Death Eater? Can I say no? Harry thought to himself. He was surrounded by them. Surely they wouldn't kill him here at the party, would they? This wasn't part of the plan. Could he do this? Snape did it! Granted, Voldemort killed him when he found out, but it took him years to figure out Snape's loyalties. Harry didn't have time to think it over, they were all staring at him expectantly.

Channeling his inner Draco Malfoy, Harry put on his best sneer. Inclining his head towards Abraxas he replied "indeed we do."

"What the bloody hell is he doing?" Charlus hissed in James's ear. They were watching the scene play out in front of them. Harry had been forced to dance with half the girls in the room, when suddenly he was no longer on the dance floor. When James finally saw him, Harry was in the corner conversing with Malfoy Sr. and Sirius's parents of all people!

They saw the sneers slowly replaced by sinister smiles before Abraxas slapped Harry on the back and began to lead him around the room, introducing him to the other blood purity extremists. James turned away from the scene across the room to look at his father.

"Being recruited." James replied.

"Are you insane?" Charlus screamed at Harry late that night once they were all back home in the Potter's sitting room.

Harry, who was seated next to Sirius on the love seat, held his face in his hands.

What have I done? He thought anxiously to himself.

On the other side of the coffee table, Charlus paced back and forth in front of the room. James and Lily were sitting in an arm chair while Remus stood behind them leaning on the back of the chair. Dorea sat next to the fire, her long hair severely messed up from the many times she had run her hands through it since they arrived home.

Peter stood next to the fireplace, leaning up against the bookshelf. They had all come over to stay the weekend and we're now witness to the drama unfolding.

"He was surrounded by them! What was he supposed to do? So no?" James argued, not fully understanding the ramifications of what Harry had done.

"Yes!" Charlus yelled back. "We had a plan! This was not a part of the plan!"

"There were too many variables in that plan." Sirius calmly stated. "If we have someone on the inside, we can find the horcruxes easier. Harry doesn't know where they are right now. If he can gain their trust..." But Sirius didn't get to finish his sentence.

"Trust?" Charlus screamed "they have no trust in one another! Only punishment and fear!"

The knot in Harry's stomach tightened. He couldn't do this. Yes, he could control his mind but he would still be forced to commit unspeakable acts and be subject to the Dark Lord's punishment. Harry shuddered at the memory of Voldemort's cruciatus curse. Everyone around him was arguing, Charlus was the only one to truly understand the severity of the situation and he could not convince the others that this was a terrible idea. Their shouting was taking a toll on Harry and he attempted to shut their voices out. He felt as if the room was getting smaller, like he was being pulled in many different directions and was about to snap.

"Harry can do this!" Peter shouted.

"You heard what happened to you last time Peter!" Charlus rebutted. "You of all people should understand why he can't do this!"

"He's stronger than I am." Peter said, much quieter than before. "More powerful too, they won't break him..."

This was the final straw and Harry, did indeed, snap. Losing his self control he stood, "Power has nothing to do with it Peter! If it did, then you certainly would never have done what you did!"

"Harry.. I'm.. I'm weak, everyone knows it! What I did in your past...to my brothers.. That just proves how weak I am."

"Do you think you had a choice Peter? Joining the Death Eaters isn't just raising your right hand and taking the dark mark!" Harry was practically screaming now. "This is dark magic! Evil magic! It seeps into you soul and controls your mind, slowly chipping away at your conscience until it's gone and all that's left is an evil shell of your former self." Harry was slowly stalking angrily across the room towards Peter. The fire light sending shadows across his face and reflecting off of the visible scars that plagued his face, hands, and arms

He looked truly terrifying.

"I'm more powerful than you?" Harry continued "Bloody hell Peter! You became an animagus at fifteen! I've seen you escape a room with four wands pointed on you. For crying out loud Peter you single handedly brewed the potion, and preformed the ritual that brought Voldemort back to life! Don't tell me you aren't powerful!" He pointed his finger right at Peters chest

Peter looked equally confused and horrified.

"What do you think happened when you became James's secret keeper? That they tortured it out of you? That he read your mind? The charm doesn't work that way, the secret keeper must willingly give the secret! Tell me Peter would you ever willingly hand James over to be murdered?"

The tension in the room was palpable. Peter had turned as white a ghost at Harry's words.

"No! Never... I.." Peter stammered but Harry interupted.

"No! You wouldn't, but you did! Because that mark on your arm forced you to submit to your master! You killed James, framed Sirius, faked your death, and left Remus alone to mourn the loss of all of you! You killed Cedric! Amos Diggory's only son!" Lily was shocked by the revelation. James had told her that, in Harry's past, Peter joined the Death Eaters to try and protect them but it had back fired. She just wasn't aware of what all had happened.

Harry knew he should stop yelling at Peter, but he needed to get his point across. Peter was shaking his head in disbelief, he didn't want to believe he'd done these things.

"You did Peter! He told you to kill the spare and you shot down a seventeen year old boy without hesitation! You threw me back, into the headstone of Voldemort's father's grave and charmed the Angel to hold me in place while you preformed the ritual! Tell me Peter would you willingly do something like that?"

"No! I would never do anything like that!" Peter screamed.

"But you did! You were so completely lost in the dark magic that you didn't even think twice before doing as you were told!" Harry retorted, his eyes blazing with fear and sadness.

"You're lying!" Peter screamed, clearly panicked by the thought of what his future could have, would have, been.

"I was there Peter!" Harry shouted "you opened his father's casket right in front of me! Bone of the father, unknowingly given. Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken! You stuck you knife in me and ran it up my arm!" Harry extended his right arm, showing off the scar Peter had given him all those years ago.

Peter turned his head, unable to look at James's son. Harry grabbed Peter by the wrist and held up his hand. "Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed." Harry quoted as he held Peter's hand up in front of them both. "I watched you cut off your own hand to bring him back and then you thanked him for it!" Disgust clearly evident in his voice.

Peter closed his eyes and Harry released his hand. Everyone in the room now understood exactly what Harry would be subjected too, if he took Abraxas up on his offer.

"You weren't completely gone." Harry said softly. "When the snatchers found us... the day we were taken to Malfoy Manor. After Bellatrix carved up my arm, you took me back to the basement, but before you could lock us up I asked you why... Why you betrayed them." Harry gestured towards James, Lily and the others. "You told me that you didn't want to, but that you didn't have a choice. I gave you a choice, I told you that if you let us go, that you could come with us. Do you know what you said?"

Peter shook his head and Harry continued.

"You said Please... and that was the last word you ever spoke, the new hand that Voldemort had given you, wrapped around your throat." Harry paled at the memory of Peter's slow merciless death.

"I tried to stop it... I didn't have a wand, there was nothing I could do." Harry looked away from everyone and into the fire.

"Now do you understand how dangerous this is?" Charlus broke the silence after a moment.

"Yes! I do" Harry replied "and I am terrified! But we need someone on the inside."

"Harry, you don't have to do this." Dorea said tearfully

"Yes I do." Harry said, more confidently than he felt.

"Harry, they will break you. Force you to do despicable things. You will not come out of this unharmed." Charlus tried to reason. "It's not possible."

"It is possible, in my past, Dumbledore had a spy, but now that I've stopped... a certain death... from happening, this spy may not switch sides this time." Harry tried to explain.

"Who?" Remus asked.

Harry took a deep breath. "Severus."

Lily's eyes widened. "There's hope for him?"

Harry just nodded in response.

"It was my death that changed him wasn't it?" She asked

"Yes... It broke him, he was able to trick Voldemort and control the magic of the Dark Mark using occlumency. By shielding my mind, I can keep the Mark from overtaking me, but I'll have to act like I'm under its control. I... I have to do this."