NOTE: This is a RE-POST. I have adopted this story from the original author. They've taken their version down, so this is not a duplicate. If you have read the existing four chapters before, you'll have a brand new chapter within two weeks. If you're a new reader, you'll probably be happy to hear I'll be posting the first four chapters in quite a rapid succession. The fifth one will be the first one written by me.
The plot will remain the same it would have been, had Crimson Rubies (the original author) continued this story. However, I will be editing the stylizing (the chapter titles and Parseltongue) to make them similar to those of Defections (my other story that I am not going to abandon or discontinue). I will update both stories whenever I have a new chapter written (after I get the first four chapters of this one published).
Warnings: AU, Dark!Harry, SLASH (non-graphic), violence, character deaths, language, mentions of past non-graphic HGRW, and of child abuse.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Key: "Text" means the words are in Parseltongue.
+ 01: Bitten +
It was July 31st, 2005 – Harry Potter's twenty-fifth birthday. The man in question, also known as the 'Boy-Who-Lived' and the 'Chosen One', was currently hiding in the ruins of an ancient castle. The building used to be Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but had been utterly destroyed not two months earlier. The Dark Lord and his followers had successfully attacked the school, killing hundreds of students in the process. Most of the staff had perished as well – including the Headmaster, leader of the Light and the legendary Order of the Phoenix, Albus Dumbledore. The powerful wizard's death had been a huge blow to the Light side, whereas Voldemort and his Death Eaters had rejoiced.
Harry had been working as an Auror for the past five years, and he had been there when Hogwarts was attacked. Only he had been alone, so there had been nothing he could have done. He wished he had never decided to visit the school that particular Tuesday. It had been the worst day of his life – and Harry had lived through several horrible days.
He had lost his parents when he was one, and then miraculously avoided death himself, as Voldemort's Killing Curse rebounded on the Dark Lord. Harry had spent the next ten years with his last living relatives, a Muggle family by the name of Dursley. Petunia Dursley had been the sister of Harry's mother, Lily Potter, but one would never have guessed it. Petunia, her walrus-like husband, and her whale-sized son had all hated everything that was related to magic – and that had included Harry. The boy's life at his relatives' on Privet Drive had been downright miserable, with endless lists of chores and constant abuse.
Then, after Harry had received his Hogwarts letter and entered the Wizarding World for the very first time, he had immediately found himself at the centre of attention. He had been considered a Saviour, the vanquisher of the Dark Lord Voldemort.
During his Hogwarts years Harry had made two very close and good friends – Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. He had also gotten to know a whole lot of other people, students and adults alike. However, he had lost many of those acquaintances because of the War.
Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, had been killed at the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Mysteries. Bellatrix Lestrange, a cousin of Sirius's and a faithful Death Eater, had hit the man with a fatal curse, and Sirius had fallen through the Veil. Harry had then run after the woman, attempting to use the Cruciatus Curse on her.
Ron had died the following year, though it had been the redhead's own fault. He had just gotten his Apparition license, and wanted to demonstrate a bit. Unfortunately, it had gone horribly wrong, and Ron had gotten Splinched. The lower part of his body had been left behind – and the damage had been too extensive to be healed in time. Ron had died of blood loss. The event had devastated both Hermione, who had been Ron's girlfriend, and Harry, although the latter hid his emotions a bit too well – Hermione had ended up calling him an emotionless monster. The two had later made up, after the grief over Ron had subsided somewhat.
Hagrid, the groundskeeper of Hogwarts, had been murdered about three months after Ron's sudden death. The half-giant had been in the Forbidden Forest, tending to a wounded centaur, when a group of Death Eaters had attacked him. Not even Hagrid's giant blood had saved him from four simultaneous Avada Kedavras. Fang, the groundskeeper's large boarhound, had tried to defend his owner – only to get hit with a Sectumsempra curse that had managed to decapitate the dog.
Only a couple weeks before the attack on Hogwarts, Hermione had been caught by some random Death Eater – Harry had never found out their name – when she had been visiting her childhood home. Her parents had moved to Continental Europe the year before, because Hermione had insisted they leave Britain. Being Muggles, they would have been on Voldemort's 'Kill off' list, and the girl had wanted to insure her mother and father's continued existence. Hermione herself had been a Muggleborn, and therefore high on the aforementioned list of the Dark Lord's. She had also been a good friend of Harry's – and that had made her even more wanted by Voldemort and his forces.
Around the same time as Hermione's death, Harry had lost the last of his 'adult friends'. Remus Lupin had downed a vial of Wolfsbane Potion that had been laced with liquid silver. The metal had caused the werewolf's instant death – the man had literally died of medicine. Lupin had not checked the potion for poisons, because it had been brought to him by a trusted Potions Master, Horace Slughorn. It was later found out the vial had been poisoned before Slughorn had taken it to Lupin. It had not been a Death Eater's doing, however, but Dolores Umbridge's. She had apparently managed to slip into the castle in her Animagus form, which was a toad. Both Slughorn and Lupin had been Professors at that time, so it had been relatively easy for the toad-woman to poison the potion. After that incident, Slughorn had been continuously sneered at by Severus Snape, who had been teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Even though he had despised Lupin, who had been the History of Magic teacher after Binns had finally left Hogwarts, Snape had said he would never have been careless enough to allow anyone to poison the Wolfsbane. Slughorn had never really got over the mistake that had cost Lupin's life.
Harry's faithful snowy owl, Hedwig, had been hit with a stray Avada Kedavra during a battle at the King's Cross Station. She had just taken flight after Harry had told her to get out of danger's way. Harry still hadn't forgiven himself for Hedwig's fate.
After all those deaths, Harry had had no one. He had become an Auror after his graduation – an event that had been everything but fun or enjoyable – determined to finish off Voldemort and as many Death Eaters as possible. Harry had had a prophecy to fulfill, and no intention of being the one who would 'die at the hand of the other'. So he had fought, and fought, and fought... He had managed to kill several members of Voldemort's Inner Circle, and dozens of lesser Death Eaters. His fellow Aurors had taken care of even more of the Dark Lord's followers.
In the end, though, it had not been enough. The attack on Hogwarts had happened after three quarters of the Ministry's Aurors had been killed. Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks had been among those unlucky ones. When the Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, had been assassinated, the Light side had more or less given up. Not Harry, though. He had had friends to avenge, and nothing to lose.
And so it had come down to the day when Harry was hiding in the ruins of Hogwarts. Voldemort himself was after him, along with a few dozen Death Eaters. Harry knew his situation was hopeless, considering there was only one of him, and no other Light warriors around. He was completely and utterly alone, not to mention vastly outnumbered.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
Harry had seen Voldemort only a couple hundred feet away, and was considering stepping from behind the large stone pile that currently hid him from the Dark Lord. If Harry did that, there would only be time for one spell before thirty-odd Killing Curses would be sent his way.
Just as Harry made his decision and was about to leave his hiding place, Voldemort seemed to spot something moving in the grass not far from Harry's stone pile. Without hesitation, the Dark Lord sent a Dark curse at whatever it was.
The curse hit, and Harry heard a strangled hiss. Voldemort seemed to realize he hadn't gotten Harry, since there had been no shout or yell, and didn't bother checking just what he'd hit.
Harry, on the other hand, listened in interest as the hisses grew louder – the spell had apparently hit a snake of some sort, and the serpent was now approaching the young Auror. Naturally, Harry could understand the snake's hissing, since he was a Parselmouth, and he was intrigued by what he heard.
"Ssstupid Massster… ssshould watch where he aimsss. Cursssing hisss own familiar, now that isss unheard of. It isss too bad I will not be able to ssshare thisss newsss with my friendsss… they would be delighted to pay my Massster a visssit – a rather unpleasssant one."
It's that pet snake of Voldemort's! Harry realized, and proceeded to wonder whether he should try talking to the serpent. Knowing he was extremely unlikely to survive the War, he wouldn't have minded too much if Nagini ended up killing him with her poison. So, Harry took the risk, and used his special gift.
"Isss it you, Nagini?" he hissed, and paused to see whether Nagini would reply.
"Yess. You mussst be Harry Potter, sssince, according to my Master, there are only two among the human kind who can ssspeak our language in this country."
"That isss right, I'm Harry Potter. Were you hit by that curssse your Massster cassst?"
"I wasss, and it isss going to kill me in a few minutesss' time."
"That isss a nasssty way to die, by the hand of an ally."
"Indeed. Now, would you be interesssted in a deal of sssortsss?"
Huh? What's she playing at? Why would Voldemort's familiar offer me a deal? Well, it can't hurt to ask…
"What kind of a deal? I might be interesssted."
"My Massster hasss betrayed me in the worssst possssssible way, ssso I have decided to offer you, hiss enemy, an opportunity to right that wrong."
"And what exactly do you mean?"
"If you let me bite you, you will be sssent back into the passst – with all of your memoriesss and knowledge intact. There isss one condition, though."
All right, this sounds too good to be true… well, until she reveals the condition, Harry thought. Might as well ask what it is.
"What isss thisss condition you ssspeak of?"
"If you accept my offer, you mussst reconsssider your opinionsss on everyone, up to and including my Massster."
Harry considered the snake's offer for a few seconds, then made his decision. The current situation versus a new life, where I'd simply need to erase the opinions I have on other people? What is there to decide, really?
"All right, I accept your graciousss offer. But why are you giving me another chance at life?"
"It isss an ancient cussstom. Betrayed familiarsss, sssuch asss myssself, are expected to offer their help to their Massster'sss worssst enemy, in thisss cassse, you. Not many ressspect the cussstom, which isss sssad. I, however, am a sssnake of honour, and therefore am making you thisss offer. Ssso, you are willing to let me bite you, young Potter?"
Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second – what if the bite would merely kill him? – before deciding to trust the enormous snake through whose eyes he'd once seen.
"I am. I wisssh to right wrongsss that have been done in the passst, and I promissse to reconsssider my opinionsss."
Upon hearing the reply, Nagini struck, biting Harry's right ankle.
"Goodbye, Harry Potter. Perhapsss we ssshall meet again."
That was the last thing Harry heard before his world went black.