The Dark Lord Voldemort reread again the short letter in his hand. This was starting to be something that he expected of Potter. He decided that this was real, and he had to decide what to do about it.
Dear Son,
It rained today, so I stayed inside. One thing I like about staying inside is that sound the rain makes. Sometimes I wonder if the rain makes a sound like that to cry for all that has gone wrong. Sorry if that is a depressing thought. Sometimes...
My favourite colour is really Slytherin green. I know it is the rival house colour, but it has been that way since before I knew about Hogwarts. Could you tell me about yours?
How did you find out about Hogwarts? I found out when Hagrid came to where my uncle was hiding us from the letters and took me to Diagon Alley. Sometimes I wonder if a Gryffindor thought it was a funny thing to name it from a direction of lines in relation to other lines instead of someone famous or an idea of what is sold in it.
Sincerely,
Your father,
Harry Potter
The Dark Lord read the letter from his nemesis, now father. Why was he sending these? Was it really for communication? He understood the sentiment written at the beginning of the letter, and the desire for knowledge over why something was named something ironic. A street named after someone or someplace famous was quite common in the muggle world, and he understood Potter's ironic humour over the street name, because he was right, unless it was a Ravenclaw who just loved math, no one was naming streets like that. Even Knockturn Alley was more about the street as a name, even if it employed similar irony.
He put down the letter on his desk, and pulled out the file of letters from the same author. It was officially starting to feel as if Potter was serious. Sometimes the letters were lessons he had learned, some were little things he had come to enjoy at times. Others were darker in nature, as it seemed the author was having a hard day and patiently not putting the whole force of the situation on his son, but gave a quick sentence explanation that alluded that something didn't go well. It seemed like it was from a father to a son that for reason of distance couldn't be together. He would have to talk to another father to get some insight, probably Lucius, as he was in the building anyway.
Lord Voldemort showed Lucius into the office graciously, surprisingly. Both parties were shocked initially, but Lord Malfoy's etiquette shoved through and made things work much smoother. After the Dark Lord pushed the file across the desk, Lord Malfoy, father of Draco, picked them up.
Lord Voldemort coughed, "Could you please read these, and tell me if these are things you would write to Draco if you knew that he wouldn't write to you but wanted to be a father to him?"
"My lord," asked Malfoy, "are you wondering if these are written as a father to his son?"
"Yes, Lucius. You may read them here. Shall I call for tea?"
"Thank you very much, my lord. I would enjoy some."
"Hobby, some tea please."
A pop, and a tea service appeared on a tray on the cleared section of the desk. Both men looked at it, frowned, and made to pour tea at the same time, and then backed off, waving the other to go first. Lord Malfoy stopped, took the tea pot and poured two cups of tea. Handing one cup over, he said, "Cream or sugar?"
"No. It is fine."
In an obvious effort to get rid of awkwardness, Lucius Malfoy picked up the file again. He took the first letter out, and reading the letters, was mostly silent for the next hour. He took sips of the tea systematically as the reading took longer than the first half hour. He put the file down when he was down on the gap not taken up by other papers or tea or tea service.
"Well, Lucius, what do you think?"
"My lord, I think he was serious. Draco has mentioned that while the Potter boy might be able to plan long term, he never does anything without sincerity. The tone of the letters also suggests it."
"If Draco was in Durmstrang, would you write letters like this to him?"
"I would. While we are not exactly the closest of relationships, we are closer than many in our group."
"I thought so. You are in a sense more being Gryffindor in your methods than many others, who are fairly Ravenclaw, if one had to use a secondary house to describe your family."
"I try to serve, my lord."
"So you really think he is writing as a father?"
"Yes, my lord. I have to admit though, it doesn't sound as if he thinks you will write back, but a few have seemed like he wants you to write back. My lord."
"Thank you, Lucius. You are dismissed."
Maybe a man like Lucius was the one to name Diagon Alley. The personality required to pull something like that was there. Or someone like Severus, who could pull something like that off while seeming serious, yet be laughing in their faces without them noticing, because he would hold it in and smirk.
He waited a week to write back. When Lucius came that day to hand him Potter's letter, he handed the man a letter to send to Potter. A quick exchange of letters, and they were headed in their respective directions; Lucius sent the letter off while Voldemort went to his office to read the letter.