Chapter 1: The Dark Wizard

Nearly 10 years ago, a little boy was left on the doorstep of number four, Privet Drive. This little boy with unruly black hair and a lighting bolt shaped scar on his forehead, did not know who he was or who he was to become. He did not know of the tones of reverence that people used when talking about him. He did not know that his parents were dead, nor did he know that he had defeated one of the greatest dark wizards in Britain's magical history, which is rather extensive. He was, in general, a very ignorant, and indeed at this stage, a very blissful child, as he lay on the doorstep.

Dumbledore who was now retiring to a small house somewhere in Wales, was in a more somber mood as he and a few other close friends of the Potters gathered to mourn both their loss, and the loss that their son will have to grow up with. But he took comfort in the fact that they had died to ensure that their son had a life, a life free of wars and free of the prophecy that had been place upon him. He knew that they would have be proud of that. He too was ignorant, even if it was to a far lesser extent than the boy he had just left. He did not know that many other powers, powers that rivaled him, maybe even rivaled Voldemort in his dark arts, had been watching the British's Ministry's silent war for all eleven years. He had been aware of this than he may have been more cautious in where he put their savior, he may have, for arguments sake, not have left him on the doorstep of house, that was as yet, un-warded. He may, for example, have not left him in an almost completely muggle neighborhood, which knew nothing of his importance, nor of how to defend against most of the beasts that lurked on the fringe of the magical world. He may, for shits and giggles, not have left him lying there with the residual power of the most deadly spell, cast by the most deadly wizard, in an age, still clinging to his being. However, he knew none of this and so took comfort in the fact he believe that for the first time in his short life, Harry appeared to have the chance at a at least semi-normal life. Truly ignorance is bliss, but when knowledge is gained and it's time to pay the piper, one has to wonder whether it was worth the brief moment of happiness.

As it was, a dark wizard of great power, but of the more gentle nature was watching. He was a tall man, thin and drawn and pale to match. His face was young, with what some may call handsome features, everything about him was sharp, sharply designed facial features, sharp angular elbows, and everything was clearly meant to be what it was. His eyes were eyes, sharp blue and piercing, and all other features kept a respectful distance from them. His mouth resembled that of one M. McGonagall , who had also just left the young Harry Potter, that is to say that it was little more than a line, and it seemed to actively resist any attempt at mirth the man's face may attempt. Despite this he was a very gentle dark wizard, as dark wizards go. He didn't seek to rule or dominate a country or town, nor was he interested in building a legacy of terror. In fact he was opposed to the very idea. He held Voldemort in competent for his petty goals of power and dominance. He had ignore the bothersome man when he had come begging for knowledge, when Voldemort had escalated into violence the mangled corpses of his minions that he had sent back to Voldemort had shut him up. It was not that Voldemort couldn't have beaten the wizard, indeed the wizard had known full well that with his followers, the self style Dark Lord could have defeated him. But such a clash of dark powers would have weakened Voldemort and further delayed his conquest of Britain, and so he had left the wizard in peace, to save for a later victory.

"Fool." The wizard hissed. His voice was that of a young man, poisoned with years of bitterness and hate. But judging age among wizards was a difficult task, and especially in this case.

"Can you now see the folly of settling for Horcruxes? It would have been better to seek my knowledge first. It would have saved you all this bother." He doubted the invisible spirit of Voldemort was anywhere near his lair, in a secluded mountain, that was part of a secluded mountain range in a remote, but not secluded, part of Greece, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the moment. He had not been privy to Voldemort's plans, but he was smart, and knew that if Voldemort wanted his knowledge, he wanted immortality, and if he couldn't get it he would have settled on Horcruxes, a tool from the Liches of old, and largely considered too dangerous to attempt.

"And now you wander the world as a wrath and the boy who did this is left on a doorstep like some unwanted kitten? How very interesting." He cancelled the spell, and straightened his back. He held his head high like the man of power that he was. He turned away from the raised pool of water that he had been using to scry for the source of the radiant magic that had ruined a very delicate enchantment he had been attempting several hours ago. How surprised he had been to discovery that the source came from a boy, that was now lying on a doorstep in England, Several hours of scrying later and he had come up with a pretty good idea of what had transpired. The boy warranted investigating, but no doubt Dumbledore would soon realize that Voldemort was not very dead and have the boy under wards by the next sunrise. Whether that revelation would come in a day or a year he had no clue but the point remained, he needed Potter. He glanced around the dark room lit only by the torches on the wall. He picked out the small shape of a house elf standing by the side of the door.

"Melcy, ask Clare to come to the antechamber please." He said briskly, the elf nodded and popped out of existence. He never saw reason to be cruel to the elves, nor did he feel the need to be overly polite, but still it was an improvement from most purebloods. He strode out his dark scrying room into well lit corridor made from medieval stone work. If it wasn't for the fact that there were no windows anywhere in the expansive castle, apart from a few towers, some people might have not noticed that it was mostly, apart from a few towers, under a mountain. He flicked his wand and a cool breeze flowed down the corridors, ruffling his hair dark hair. The house elves where good at keeping the air fresh and breathable, but they had no flair for the artistic. As he walked he thought, as he often did, on his reasons for turning to the dark side. At first it had been the power, but he just didn't have the dark heart required to senselessly kill. No, he stayed dark for two very important reasons, the first being immortality and the second was Clare. He longed for true immortality, even though he looked nearly twenty he was approaching two hundred. He had several ways to prolong his life, a version of the philosophers stone was one (although only Nicholas Flammel, is the only person who has revealed possession of the artifact, with sufficient research many dark wizards could create their own version, if they were willing to gamble their lives, the stone was riskier than a Horcrux to create), and close research into vampires native magic was another. By combining the two he had been able to reverse his body's aging process so that he didn't have to keep the 150 year old face he had had when he finally managed to combine the two. But he wanted more. This immortality was too frail. If he lost his stone, and he couldn't draw on his vampiric ties he would age rapidly. He wanted a more permanent source of immortality. He had arrived at what he called the antechamber. In truth it was the base one of the towers, one with an opening at the top. If he were unimaginative he would call it a chimney, but he was imaginative, and so called it an antechamber. He stood quietly in the center of the room gazing up at the stars in the heavens. There was a spiral stair case that clung to the side of tower, circling upwards like a serpent. The stone work was immaculate as it was every where in his vast mountain castle. This had been one of his personal additions, carved with magic. Every twenty stairs there was a door, the doors would each lead to a room and each room would lead to a passage way that would sloped down and curve to join onto the passage that led to the base of the tower. He had given each floor a different color, and the effect was that if one managed to look down through the mountain's stone, they would find the layout form into a blooming flower. However no one ever did this and the wizard regarded that as a shame, seeing as it was one of his better works. He continued to let his mind wander. He could keep it up for days. Indeed if he ever lived among other wizards (with out them lynching him for his more macabre research) he would be regarded as very eccentric. But when one is near immortal, you have to find some way to deal with the time, research into a batter kind of immortality was a popular choice as it required so much time, ironically. He looked across the floor as Clare entered from the door. The second reason he stayed dark was because the wizarding world would never accepted her, and so he stayed here in this mountain just for her and was happy about it too.

"You wanted to see me." She said as walked towards him.

"Always do." He replied embracing her as she came closer.

"Still charming I see.' She said returning his embrace. Their separate research often kept the two lovers apart for days, but they were always in the same castle, and could feel each others presence, and when you are immortal, a week is nothing, but a meaningless measure of time. Clare was almost as tall as he was, just an inch or two shorter. Her skin was pale and cool to the touch and her features as soft as his were sharp. She was slim and graceful, and like him look to be twenty. Her eyes were a captivating golden color that seemed to burn with life to make up for her body's deathly chill. Her voice had a soft purring quality to it that seemed almost ethereal, as if her body held a soul that refused to die. And that was almost true, and it was also why the wizarding world would never accept Clare Crowcaller. As for her name… that was a story that warranted a day of thought to fully express.

"I love you." The wizard settled on saying.

"I know." She replied moving away, "And, I also know that when you say that, it means you need to go somewhere." Her golden eyes bored into his blue ones. He knew what she was thinking, she thought it every time he left, she wondered if he would return, she wondered if maybe he had finally grown tired of her, she wondered if he had come to hate what she was.

"I'll be back, I need to fetch something from England, I'll be back before midday, promise."

"Promise?" She said her eyes softening.

"Promise." He said with conviction. He kissed her, and as they parted, he dissapparated with a wink. Clare smiled, there were worse fates than living with a dark wizard. But he hadn't been eating again, he was always too skinny, if she wasn't telling him to eat every night. She scowled, and decided that she would have to ask Melcy to be more insistent that he ate, immortal or no. Still she loved Gemini.

Five years ago, Harry Potter woke up in his room. He was six nearing seven now and full of boisterous spirit, especially at five in the morning. Melcy popped into existence just as Harry rushed from the room.

"HiyaMelcydoyouknowwhereGeminiis?" he said in a rush. Melcy laughed.

"Master Harry is very excited today." She said calmly.

"Uh-huh, Gemini said he would teach me magic today." Harry said nodding very quickly.

"Really? You must be excited." Melcy said. She knew very well that Master Gemini had agreed to teach Harry magic today. The house elf drew out the encounter, she had helped raise Harry when the Master and Mistress got very busy with their research and so felt she could play with him like this.

"Uh-huh, where is he, Melcy please." Harry said with a pained expression on his face, hopping from one foot to the other impatiently.

"Hmmm let me think," Melcy said putting one long finger on her chin, "I think he's in the dinning hall." She said at last. Harry said a very quick thank you and sped of down the hallway. Melcy popped out of existence to warn Master Gemini of the excited bullet heading his was.

Gemini Frances was born on the first of June and his mother who was part seer decided to name him after his star sign, that he didn't mind, but he couldn't stand his surname. Who would ever fear the Dark Wizard Frances? No one. After the fall of Grindelwald when it looked like the dark arts in Europe were to be permanently suppressed, and the dark wizards were being hunted down, it was his lack of reputation that saved him. In the period of calm that followed, and then the time while the world was focused on Britain's Dark Lord, he and Clare had gathered power and set themselves up in these mountains. He was powerful, extremely so, and Clare had, unique, talents. Between them they could be regarded as the dark force of the new age. They kept a low profile controlling things from the shadows if needed or just not getting involved, they had no desire to rule. If the two wanted to they could have caused real problems for the light. By and large they were considered, by the ministries that acknowledged their existence, as "extremely dangerous", but "Largely harmless to the population at large." Gemini had laughed and said that they were a sleeping dragon that the ministries didn't want to anger by trying to put a collar on and that was a reasonable analogy. The pair had made surprisingly good parents to the young Harry. Some say you can get more with a kind word than with a gun, Gemini believed that you get more with a kind word with a gun for emphasis than any other way. Harry however at that young age had been likely to try and chew the gun so Gemini had settled on just trying to get the lad to co-operate. Clare had practically adopted him on sight. She was unable to have children due to the way she achieved immortality, and saw Harry as more of some proof of her and Gemini's love than a project, and she knew that Gemini must care at some level, because she had caught him smile once while watching Harry play. Of course his self styled dark wizard status meant he would never admit it. Their only fault was that they had on occasion forgotten about him. Melcy would often care for Harry for a few days at a time when they got caught up in projects. Melcy could not think ill of them for it, they where human and new to immortality, they sometimes forgot that others weren't like them, and to be honest they tried to not forget him. All in all, Harry Potter's life was far better living with the dark wizard than it would have been if he had been left on the doorstep of number four Privet drive. Thankfully he would never know those people.

Gemini was sitting at his table, which was part of the mountain. He had spent a lot of time learning to shape stone, and in the end had made the mountain that was his home into a canvas for his art and skill. The table was a great stone slab that rested on what looked like vines growing from the floor. He was currently eating breakfast, at Clare's orders, at least he didn't need to sleep too often, and he could easily manage 3 days without sleep. Breakfast in this case was some fruit, probably apple, he concluded and yogurt, dreadfully healthy stuff he decided. Melcy popped into existence next to him.

"Master Gemini, Harry Potter is awake sir."

"Ah saved by the kid." He said pushing the bowl of offensively good food away. "Thank you Melcy, is he excited?" He asked.

"I thinks so sir." Melcy said with a smile. As if to prove her point a very fast moving Harry bolted into the large room. Making record time.

"Gemini, Gemini!" He said panting as he bent over and put his hands on his knees, "Will you teach me magic now?" Harry asked between breaths.

"Of course, follow me." He said walking towards the door, "Unless of course you're too tired now…"

"I'm not!" Harry protested. Gemini chuckled and walked on. The truth was he was excited too. He had been unable to find anything extraordinary on the child. Harry had the remnants of a very power protection spell on him when Gemini had picked him years ago, but that shouldn't have been strong enough to stop, let alone reflect, the killing curse. He was hoping that maybe with a wand in his hand the boy would reveal some hidden talent. If not, well would it really be so bad to have a son? Some sort of protégé?

"So what will I do first, Gemini?" Harry said bouncing along the corridor behind the dark wizard, "maybe I'll make something fly, or turn something into a frog!" Harry carried on. Gemini chuckled again, well at least the lad has ambitions, he thought to himself. They met Clare walking along the corridor. The two embraced as they always did and Harry made a face.

"Did you eat?" She demanded.

"Yes, and it was horribly healthy I'll have you know." Gemini replied making a face to rival Harry's.

"Good." She said ignoring his comment, she went down onto one knee and gave Harry a hug.

"How you doing, Harry?" She asked.

"Fine." He said shuffling about impatiently.

"I'm going to see what wand will suit him." Gemini supplied. Clare laughed as realized why Harry was so impatient.

"Oh, don't let me keep you then. Gem, I'll visit you later okay?" Gemini just replied with wink and walked off with Harry again.

"Clare is a funny lady." Harry said as they walked.

"Really?" Gemini asked.

"Uh-huh, but I like her."

"Me too."

A.N okay so there's the first chapter, please tell me what you think in the little review box.