Short, but plotful. Hopefully as a supplement to 17.
"What is it about me and him anyway?" Itachi asked the hat. "Everyone has been telling me that, but no one would elaborate."
The Sorting hat looked at him in a way he couldn't describe. "Well… both of you are powerful…. Voldemort killed his relatives, you have the intention." It looked cautiously at him. "… you two share the mind of Salazar Slytherin himself…"
"That…?" Itachi willed the hat to continue.
"Pureblood supremacy, of course. You struck me as the type…"
"… To go off on a killing spree and purge the world of impurities simply because my clan is full of people who could care less about others who do not have these eyes?" Itachi chuckled. "You couldn't be more wrong, I could care less about those people who think they deserve to be called elders. In fact… well, let's just say that the Uchiha have ruled for far too long as a bunch of useless so called 'purebloods'." He shook his head.
The Sorting Hat blinked. "… I see." It replied. "-and your wand…?"
"A tool, nothing more." He said, waving it. In truth, he WAS lying, but then again if you look at it that way it was a tool. It was a tool to get the Mangekyo Sharingan and…
The door opened.
"Ah. Itachi." Dumbledore dipped his head. "I hadn't expected you… what brings you to my office this morning?"
"In private." Itachi replied, tapping on the oaken desk. He watched as Dumbledore locked the door behind him, mutter a spell and then bid him to continue with a twinkle of those annoyingly blue eyes of his.
"Sturgis?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Fudge took matters into his own hands."
"How long?"
"Four months. It was the least I could get Fudge to agree to." He searched his shelves for something, Itachi didn't know what.
"Ah."
"How is Harry?" Dumbledore asked, taking out a thick, leather bound book.
"Enjoying life as a free man." Itachi replied sarcastically, lifting his hand and letting Dumbledore see the words etched on it. "Next time he messes up, he will attend his own detentions." He shook his head. "I am not covering for some lowlife who trusts on others to get his job done for him."
Dumbledore stared at his hand for quite a while. "I see…" He looked like he didn't hear what Itachi said after he had showed him his hand. "Well… I will let Serverus know…. If you would need painkillers…?"
"If you want to try and help, that would be quite nice." Itachi replied. "But what about you? What are you doing to keep the Potter boy all safe and warm?" He couldn't resist adding a sneer.
"Everything." Dumbledore replied. "I just hope it would be enough."
Itachi formed a seal and left the room in a puff of smoke.
Dumbledore turned to his book. He had left this alone for so long… after Grindelwald… He blew on the cover, clearing away centuries of dust and whatnot from the old book so that its title was once again visible.
La Magia Scura del Hocrux.
The Dark Magic of the Hocrux. He blew again on the cover, to make sure.
"Voldemort…" Dumbledore opened the book and began to read. "This is the way… the only way you would be destroyed, isn't it...?"
Fawkes stirred uneasily on his perch.