Title: A Little Bit of Love

Rating: R

Pairing(s): HP/DM, LV/SS

Warning(s): slash, violence, language, angst

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. I own nothing here except for the plot.

Summary: The summer after fifth year finds Harry depressed. His godfather is dead, his relatives are being worse than usual, and the prophecy is weighing heavily on his mind. So when a shocking letter arrives at Privet Drive how does Harry cope?

Note: I've been away for a while; dealing with life and it's many problems. But now I'm back and I bet a lot of you will be happy to hear that I'm re-working a lot of my fics. I'll be reading and re-working over the next few weeks with my best friend and fellow author – Love's Bitch – as my beta. I'll be working on the fics in alphabetical order so that way I can get through them in an orderly manner. Enjoy!

PROLOGUE

"BOY!" Any normal person would have never believed that another human being could make so much noise. Noise that would be likened to that of a blow horn or a foghorn. But Harry Potter was not a normal person, not normal by far. So it was no surprise to him when the bellow reverberated throughout the house.

The underweight raven-haired boy of sixteen rolled over on his mattress and squinted at the door, which burst open mere seconds after the horrendously loud bellow.

"Y-yes Uncle?" He let out a squeak of surprise and pain as his uncle grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hauled him up off the bed. His feet dangled helplessly and his hands wound around his Uncle's meaty wrists.

"Your aunt just picked up a letter on our doorstep." Harry coughed back a snort as his uncle shook him. "It was addressed to you boy!" Harry blinked. "Now who would be writing to you?" Harry's thoughts mirrored his uncle's.

"I don't know." He rasped out before Vernon threw him to the floor savagely. The sudden impact with the ground tore the air from Harry's lungs leaving him unable to continue his thought, and he wheezed as Vernon pulled a thin envelope from his breast pocket.

"Let's see who it's from then, shall we?" Harry caught his breath as his Uncle tore open the letter and began to read:

Dear Mr. Potter,

My you are a hard one to send post to! That old man Dumbledore must have you on a very tight leash. I do hope this letter finds you in good health. (Here Vernon stumbled and Harry presumed that words had been scratched out). But alas there is something we must discuss. Something very important and no doubt unbelievable.

Because the nature of my tale is very private, I will make this short and leave it up to you to hear the rest at a later date should you wish. We'll start with a very short beginning and proceed to a short middle and ending:

Your mother Lily and I met on the Hogwarts Express. I was a sixth year at the time. She was in Ravenclaw but we got along fine. Fine enough that we got together only a short time before she was "paired" with James Potter.

Lily and I had been in love for a long time. But she was a bright witch, and very much like a Gryffindor despite her sorting. It wasn't long before Dumbledore found out and put a stop to our "unhealthy relationship".

As all loving couples do, Lily and I had made love. Our last union was just before Dumbledore took her. He secretly had her put under a legal form of imperious and forced her to marry James.

I had no idea that it was my love that I attacked that horrible night, nor that you could possibly have been my child. If I had known, you and Lily would have been spared.

As it were, you were both under a powerful glamour charm and Lily under a mind-altering potion. She couldn't help herself when she defied me.

I have enclosed a portkey that will bring you home, should you decide to believe me. I hope you do, for I miss you very much.

Love,

TMR

Vernon nearly dropped the letter in shock, and Harry stared at it wide-eyed. A small pin fell out of the gaping envelope, un-noticed by Vernon, and rolled towards Harry. The boy shook his head and ignored the hair that flopped into his face.

"It can't be true." He said out loud. "It can't be." Vernon was watching him calculatingly.

"You are looking less like that imbecile Potter." Despite the insult at his father – or not father? – Vernon's grudging comment drove the nail home in Harry's mind.

Now that he was thinking about it, there were many similarities between himself and Tom Riddle. Too many to be ignored or passed of as curse backlash.

For one, he was a parselmouth. All of the books that touched on the subject played it to be an inherited trait and not something that could be passed on through a misfired curse.

For another, he had a lot of magical power at his disposal. His spells seemed to strengthen after each use, and some spells lasted longer than usual.

Add to that he had some intermittent abilities that popped up from time to time. Such as occasional bouts of occlumency and it's counter, levitation, and other un-named abilities.

He rather suspected that these powers could not have come from James Potter and his Gryffindor blood. But he did only suspect this because no one had mentioned any of these in James Potter.

Vernon harrumphed and wheeled around. He stormed out of the room and locked the door behind him. Harry sat back and stared at the pin, his mind a jumbled mess off thoughts.

' If this is true…then he is my father. I have a father!' Was his first thought. His chest hitched painfully. 'But he's evil. Isn't he?' Harry shook his head and wrapped his arms around his knees. 'An evil man wouldn't sign his letters like that, would he? Should I trust him?'

After a moment of debate with himself, Harry leaned forward and picked up the small pin. "Anything is better than living here." Harry finally decided. Moments later he felt the hook-like sensation in his naval and the bedroom disappeared.

TBC