Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any money off of this fanfiction.

Prologue

Tom Marvolo Riddle could only watch in wonder as his head of house moved gracefully down the halls. Alexander Knight was one of the youngest teachers Hogwarts had ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was kind and gentle to all his students, even those of different houses and everyone knew that the house of Slytherin did not get along with the other three houses.

Professor Knight was the Care of Magical Creatures professor and he was more than qualified to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts as well Potions, an art that was known for being volatile and only those that were as wise as they were quick-witted could teach it; barring Professor Slughorn, the fool.

Yes, it was safe to say that many of the students admired Professor Knight, none more so than Tom Riddle though. Tom absolutely adored Alexander Knight, and he knew that Alexander adored him. Of course, there were jealous buffoons who sought to tear the two apart- hm, hm, Abraxas Malfoy being one such person, the jealous git. Of course, Alexander just had to adore him; he was the CoMC Teacher's favorite student. Not to mention that the older man had taken Tom under his wing when he had first arrived at Hogwarts when he was eleven-the same year that Alexander had started teaching, coincidentally.

Professor Knight noticed Tom watching him and waved, chuckling slightly when Tom blushed in embarrassment before waving back almost unnoticeably. An emotion that Tom had seen enter the professor's eyes more than once when looking at him appeared before disappearing just as soon as it had come, Tom didn't know what to make of the emotion but assumed it was related with amusement.

Alexander continued on his way and Tom sighed softly before…

Lord Voldemort lurched from his bed in the Malfoy Manor and clutched at his chest when he recalled his memory. Yes, the memories that he tried so hard to forget from his school days often plagued him horribly when he slept. Just remembering Alex's warm smile that he reserved just for him or his gorgeous emerald eyes that he only now saw on the Potter brat's face made him shudder when he realized that he couldn't forget the professor or the warmth he gave out. He couldn't forget, not even the time that he wanted to forget most.

Shaking still, he rose from the bed and summoned his robes for the day. His red eyes narrowed as he left the room and made his way to the large dining room where most likely none of his followers were. He supposed he could at least enjoy the silence until everyone arrived.

"Nagini, come to me." He hissed after he had situated himself in the chair at the lead of the table and gave instructions on breakfast to the house elves that appeared when he had called. Moments later, the large green snake slithered over to him and crawled up the legs and the back of the chair before wrapping herself around Lord Voldemort's shoulders. A faint smile touched the dark lord's lips before he reached up to stroke Nagini's scales.

Of course, such peaceful moments do not last forever.

And this came in the form of all three of the Malfoy's along with his most devoted follower Bellatrix and the werewolf, Fenrir. Severus Snape followed along behind the small group and seated himself quickly and quietly. Lord Voldemort sighed before jerking his head up to stare at the recently seated Draco Malfoy and then chanced a glance in Severus's direction. The chatter that had held for a few moments stopped when the dark lord stood up and whispered something only Fenrir heard thanks to his wolf-like ears, "Why do you have his magick on you?"

"My Lord, are you alright?" Lucius Malfoy asked with concern as the dark lord suddenly trained his gaze on his one and only child. Lucius frowned slightly when he noticed the grip that Lord Voldemort had on his wand.

"Why do you have a trace of magick on you that is supposed to be dead, Young Malfoy?" The dark lord demanded darkly when Draco shuddered after finding himself on the other end of Voldemort's wand.

Severus stood quickly with a frown and when Voldemort had deemed that too much time had passed, he shot a spell at Draco, only to find it reflected by a small violet shield in the shape of the iris-Alex's favorite flower- much to Voldemort's shock. The snake-like man then collapsed in his chair and placed his head in his hands.

"Draco, what spell was that?" Narcissa asked as everyone in attendance looked at the silent dark lord and then to the still shaking sixteen year-old. Draco shook his head before everyone turned sharply to stare at the dark lord as he spoke softly.

"That was the spell he created. It took the shape of his favorite flower and protected him no matter what was thrown at him; Alexander was a great wizard, better than that foolish Dumbledore." The dark lord explained and nearly everyone had to hold in a gasp of shock at the admission of some unknown wizard being great.

"My Lord, um, Potter cast that spell on us." Draco spoke softly in the hopes of not being crucioed, Severus stood nearby nervously, yet fascinated at the shield spell that the brat had cast. If this Alexander person was the only one who was supposed to know it, how did Potter manage to do it?

"Potter, Potter managed this? But it can't be." Emerald eyes flashed before him and before he knew it, he was showing everyone at the table one of his most treasured memories.

Tom spotted Professor Knight long before his beloved professor spotted him. With a sweet smile, Alexander made his way towards the eleven year old.

"Tom, what are you doing out here? It's so cold." To emphasize his point, a chilly burst of air that carried snow swirled around the professor and his student causing both to shiver. Tom looked around for anyone that might be listening before whispering, "I was speaking to her; she got lost." He presented a small garden snake that seemed to shudder pitifully. Tom tensed; the last time that he had said something about being able to speak to snakes, he was beaten horribly by the bullies at his orphanage.

Professor Knight merely leaned down and smiled when the little snake hissed and its tongue ended up tickling the tip of his nose. Tom's eyes widened when his professor spoke, "Is that so? Well, let's hurry and get the both of you snakelings to warmth." And with that, Tom's free hand was grabbed and he hurried not to drop the small snake and follow his professor.

They ended up in Alexander's private quarters and Tom was amazed when Professor Knight wandlessly and silently cast a spell that had the fireplace burning brightly within a matter of seconds. He was then pushed to sit on the couch and a plush blanket was placed around his shoulders. Tom watched wordlessly as Professor Knight moved around the room easily and disappeared into what Tom thought might be the kitchen only to appear a minute later with two cups. Alexander held out one of the cups and Tom took it gratefully, soaking up the heat that came from it. When he took a sip, he was surprised that it was tea. Usually, adults had the tea while children got hot chocolate.

"I've noticed that you're more adult-like than the rest of the students," was Alexander's simple words. Tom looked down and nodded gratefully.

"Why did you react that way? When I said that I was speaking with the snake," he gestured to the snake that had curled up in the folds of the blanket. Waiting for his professor to speak, he took another sip of the tea- it was really quite good.

"Hm, well, I suppose that I think it's amazing. It's wonderful that you can speak with them, and this way, if we ever have a lesson on a reptile-like creature, you can tell me if I do something to offend the dear." Alexander smiled and set his cup on the coffee table before turning to Tom with a serious look upon his usually peaceful face.

"Tom, did you know that you are Slytherin's heir?" At Tom's startled expression Alexander continued on, "Yes, the ability to speak to snakes is something that is inherited along with his eyes, your eyes."

Alexander smiled before frowning when Tom looked down at the floor with an angry expression. The professor knew that such eyes were mostly uncommon so he got up from his seat and retreated to his bedroom for only a brief moment to grab something.

Tom looked up with a jolt when something soft was wrapped around his neck gently only to look into his professor's emerald eyes. He looked down slightly to find that a crimson red scarf had been wrapped around his neck. Tom lifted a hand to stroke the soft material and looked up at Alexander.

"Having such red eyes isn't such a bad thing, you know. Besides, did you know that red is the color of passion? If anyone ever makes fun of them, say that it merely means that you have far more passion than they could ever hope to have. And people with passion often end up the most successful." Alexander finished playfully as he sat down and bumped the child's shoulder gently.

Tom smiled slightly before Alexander jumped up, "Alright, how about I show you a good spell that will always protect you?"

Quickly, Alexander reached out and pulled Tom from the couch before drawing his wand, "Servo!" A small violet shield covered Tom completely somehow before Alexander cast, "Flipendo!"

Tom watched in complete shock when the small shield enlarged suddenly and absorbed the spell into it wholly. He had never seen anything like it before.

"I created it when I was younger; so simple yet it can do so much." Alexander said before waving his wand and taking the shield down. Tom looked up at him suddenly before saying, "Please teach it to me!"

Alexander looked down at the boy and smiled gently, "Fine, but you'll need to study hard in all your classes, even those that you don't like. Do we have a deal?" The two shook hands and Tom smirked up at Professor Knight.

A.N: Hello everyone, I hope you all like this, but I'm not certain if I should continue it or not, please help me decide. Thank you.