A/N: Hello, folks! It's been a while, I suppose! I tried this idea quite some time ago, and I just didn't have my ideas put together well enough to finish it, so here goes a second
attempt, and I'm much more organized this time! I'mactually very excited to get this idea out there, because I've NEVER read another story where, instead of killing Harry,
Voldemort takes him in as an apprentice, and that idea is beyond fascinating to me! So here it goes! I really hope y'all and enjoy, and be sure to point out any grammar mistakes or inconsistencies, so I can fix them for you lovelies, seeing as I don't have a Beta!
Obviously, this story is AU. This first chapter is mostly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, save for a smidge at the end, which sets up our plot line!
Reviews are welcome, but no flames please!
Disclaimer: All familiar content belongs to the wonderful and all-powerful J.K. Rowling.
Prologue: Godric's Hollow
The sky was dark as the cloaked figure moved across the street, face hooded. The night was wet and windy. Little muggles in Halloween costumes surrounded him, giggling loudly, making him sick. He moved with power and purpose.
"Nice costume, mister!"
The boy's smile faltered as he ran near enough to see beneath the hood of the cloak, fear clouding his painted face. The boy turned and fled. The Dark Lord fingered his wand, thoughtfully. Deciding it was not worth it, he continued walking. His destination was in sight now, the Fidelius Charm broken, though they did not know it yet. They had not drawn the curtains; he saw them quite clearly in their little sitting room, the tall black-haired man in his glasses, making puffs of colored smoke erupt from his wand for the amusement of the small black-haired boy in his blue pajamas. The child was laughing and trying to catch the smoke, to grab it in his small fist...
A door opened and the mother entered, saying words he could not hear, her long dark-red hair falling over her face. The father scooped up his son and handed him to the mother. He threw his wand down upon the sofa and stretched, yawning.
The gate creaked a little as he pushed it open, but James Potter did not hear. His white hand pulled out the wand beneath his cloak and pointed it at the door, which burst open.
He was over the threshold as James came sprinting into he hall. It was easy, too easy. He had not even picked up his wand.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"
Hold him off, without a wand in his hand? Voldemort laughed and cast the curse that ended James Potter's life.
The green light filled the cramped hallway, it lit the pram pushed against the wall, made the banisters glare like lightning rods, and James Potter fell like a marionette whose strings were cut.
He could hear her screaming from the upper floor, trapped, but as long as she was sensible, she, at least, had nothing to fear. He climbed the steps, listening with faint amusement to her attempts to barricade herself in...She had no wand upon her either.
He forced the door open, cast aside the chair and boxes hastily piled against it with one wave of his wand, and their she stood, the child in her arms. At the sight of him, she dropped her son into the crib behind her and threw her arms wide, as if this would help, as if in shielding him from the sight she hoped to be chosen instead.
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl. Stand aside, now."
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-"
"This is my last warning-"
"Not Harry! Please...have mercy...have mercy...Not Harry! Not Harry! Please-I'll do anything-"
"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!"
He could have forced her away from the crib, but it seemed more prudent to finish them all...
The green light flashed around the room and she dropped like her husband. The child had not cried all this time: He could stand, clutching the bars of his crib, and he looked up into the intruder's face with a kind of bright interest, perhaps thinking that it was his father who hid beneath the cloak, making more pretty lights, and his mother would pop up any moment, laughing...
He pointed the wand very carefully into the boy's face: He wanted to see it happen, the destruction of this one, inexplicable danger. The child began to cry: It had seen that he was not James. He did not like it crying, he had never been able to stomach the small ones whining in the orphanage-
The roar of a motorcycle split through the night air, startling him. He glanced out the window to see a handsome young man with wavy hair, and the large oaf Hagrid. It was now or never; but as he looked down into the child's face, he saw burning curiosity and confusion and...potential. Lord Voldemort had never been one for impulsiveness, but his instincts told him that there were other, far more valuable uses for this child than a coffin-filler. For as he gazed down into his piercing green eyes, Lord Voldemort saw himself, with a burning desire to consume knowledge and grow in his wealth of magical ability. He had always liked collecting trophies; whether they be valuable items, or people, and he had a feeling that this boy was a diamond in the rough. He flicked his wand and the child rose several feet in the air. He twisted on the spot, and the two of them disappeared into the night.