AN: Parseltongue is written and spoke like this.

Chapter One

A Murderous Halloween

by azrael-abbadon-delphinus

The night was wet, cold and windy. Two children dressed up as pumpkins waddled across the square. The shop windows were covered with fake spiders, webs, and pumpkins.

He was walking along, with a sense of purpose and power and rightness. He had waited for this. He had planned for this. He had hoped for this…..

"Nice costume, mister!" a little boy yelled.

He saw the small boy's smile falter as he ran near enough to see beneath the hood of the cloak, saw the fear cloud his painted face. Then the child turned and ran away. Beneath the cloak he fingered the handle of his wand. He pulled it out, and pointed it at the child. "Avada Kedavra!" A green light shot out of his wand, and struck the child in the face. The child fell down dead. Voldemort continued on his way.

Along a new and darker street he moved, and now his destination was in sight at last, the Fidelius Charm broken, though those inside did not know it yet… And he made less noise than the dead leaves, seeming to almost slither along the pavement as he drew level with the dark hedge, and stared over it…

They had not drawn the curtains. He saw them quite clearly in their little sitting room, packed in, like rats in a sewer. The tall black-haired man in his glasses, making puffs of colored smoke erupt from his wand, for the amusement of the small children in front of him. A few of them had orange hair and freckles and wore red pajamas. One, however, had had black hair, wore blue pajamas, and had emerald-green eyes. He sat next to a girl his age, who had, like the two boys near her, orange hair and freckles. She also had fiery bright red eyes. All of them were laughing and trying to grab the colorful smoke, to the obvious amusement of the black-haired man, and orange-haired man and woman.

A door opened, and the black-haired child's mother entered, saying words he could not hear, her long dark-red hair falling over her face. Now the black-haired child's father scooped up the son and handed him to his mother. He reached his arms high above his head and stretched, yawning…..

The gate creaked a little as he pushed it open, but neither James Potter, Lilly Potter, nor the entire Weasley family heard it. He wondered a little about how the entire Weasley family had all gotten here. But only a little. He pointed his wand at the door as he reached it, casting a spell. The door flew open with a bang.

He was over the threshold as James poked his head into the hall. James pulled it back, and, in the sitting room yelled, "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! It's Voldemort! Go! Run! We'll hold him off!"

Hold him off? They all tried to attack him at once, and he blocked their spells with great ease. He laughed, and, using the killing curse, killed James and everyone else in the room. Flash after flash of green light filled the room. They all fell, like marionettes with their strings cut.

He went around the room and retrieved the conquered wands. Four new wands to add to his collection back at the mansion. He stuffed them into his cloak pocket for now. As he was doing all of this, he heard Lily screaming from the upper floor, trapped, but as long as she was sensible, she, at least, had nothing to fear…..

He climbed the steps quickly, listening with mild amusement at her attempts to barricade herself in.

Using his wand, he forced the door open, flung aside the chair, boxes, and assorted objects rapidly piled against it… And there she stood, the child in the crib behind her, hugging a small one-year-old girl with orange hair, freckles, and fiery red eyes. At the sight of him, she raised her wand at him, a fraction of a second to slow. He disarmed her with expelliarmus, and stared into her eyes. "Move aside you silly girl."

"No! You can't! You can't!"

"I said move aside!"

"No! You can't take Harry, you can't!"

"I won't ask again, you foolish insignificant insolent girl. Move aside!"

"No, I won't! You can't take Harry, I won't LET YOU!" She ran at him, and attempted to hit him in the face. He caught her arm, and bent it savagely sideways, until he heard a crack, and Lily Potter screamed. He pointed his wand at her face, and used the killing curse.

"Avada Kedavra!" A flash of emerald green light filled the room, and then quickly died away. Lily had crumpled to the floor, dead. He stared at her for a moment. He hadn't wanted to kill her, not really. If she had only stood aside, she'd be alive right now. . . but no matter.

He turned his attention to the boy. Harry was still hugging the girl and they were both staring at him. Now that he took a closer look, he saw a name sewn into the girls' pajamas. It read 'Ginny Weasley'. He pointed his wand at Harry, and even though he was quite sure, he had to be ABSOLUTELY sure, and he cast the spell. "Parentis Revelio."

Slowly, in fiery red letters, 'mother' was spelled out. Then 'Lily Jessica Evans'. A short pause, and then, in fiery emerald letters, 'father' was spelled out. Then, 'Tom Marvolo Riddle'. He had been right all along. It was his child. Somehow, against all odds, he had reproduced. Every doctor he had ever seen had pronounced him sterile, had said he would never have a child. But somehow he had proven them all wrong. He had fathered a child. He hadn't come for Harry because he was the fatherly type. No, far from it. He had come for Harry because he knew that any child of his would become very powerful. "You need a new name. One to replace 'Harry James Potter'. How about… 'Harry Salazar Riddle'. Yes, I like that name. Your old one was much too… common." He tried to separate Harry from Ginny but it was almost as if they were stuck together with a permanent sticking charm. He decided it would be easier to just take both of them, and give Ginny to the Malfoys. She could be Harry's…friend. He picked up Lily's wand and stuffed it into his cloak pocket with the others. He scooped up the children and left for the Riddle Mansion.