Disclaimer(for the whole story): This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK 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.
Summary: "The one with the power to assure our Lord's reign approaches ... born to those who have thrice stood with him, born as the seventh month dies ... and our Lord will make him his equal," What if this prophesy made Lord Slytherin, adored ruler of Magical Britain, want to marry Harry Potter? A TMR/HP Tragedy AU, Dark. Please mind the warnings!
Pairings: Tom/Harry, other side pairings like Draco/Astoria, Lucius/Narcissa, James/Lily, Sirius/Remus
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: This is placed in the category Tragedy for a reason! It includes dark themes, AU, some OOC because of the AU, self-harm, m-preg, arrange marriage and temporary Character Deathafter suicide.
The reason for the last warning is that the first plot arc (tragedy) will not have a HEA(Happily-ever-after), though the second arc (romance) will have a HEA-ending as a 'What if'-sequel. So, if you can live with a temporary character death before the HEA this is your story.
There's also villain Dumbledore and good Tom, but read for yourself.
Also English isn't my native language.
Guide: "Speech", Thoughts, ~letters and other written things, "Parseltongue"
Beta: cuter-than-a-guinea-pig. All remaining errors are my own.
AN: A warm welcome to my new readers. Hello again to my old readers. This story (especially the last third) will be much, much darker than my previous ones. Still, I hope that you'll enjoy reading this story.
-~-~- Verbuar* -~-~-
-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-
-~-~- Prologue -~-~-
My name is Harry James Riddle, nee Potter, former consort of Lord Slytherin and this is the story of my short life.
One could say that my life already headed downhill―or as the Seers like Sybill Trelawney loved to call it, was fated to be doomed―six months before I was born.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
It was a snowy night in the beginning of February of nineteen-eighty when a chain of unfortunate events built the basis for my condemned life. It all began as Severus Snape, who at the young age of twenty was already Lord Slytherin's most trusted and talented Potions master and would become one of my future godfathers, entered the Hog's Head to meet with Mundungus Fletcher.
While Severus had no love left for Fletcher, he was in a desperate need of chimaera eggshells for his latest potion and the dubious black market dealer had promised to deliver the as Non-Tradeable Substance classified Potions ingredient today at seven.
As Severus was ascending the stairs to room number three where he would meet with Fletcher, he noticed that the door to room one was halfway opened. And just as he was about to walk pass the door, he heard a husky trance-like voice begin to speak. Intrigued, he stopped to listen to the voice. And what he heard was beyond anything he had hoped to gain from meeting Mundungus Fletcher at the Hog's Head.
"The one with the power to assure our Lord's reign approaches ... born to those who have thrice stood with him, born as the seventh month dies ... and our Lord will make him his equal," Sybill Trelawney spoke in her Seer-trance, her voice being carried from Room One out into the hallway where Severus was standing.
Unfortunately, this was all Severus heard of the prophesy made by the young Trelawney before the soft and husky voice of the great-great-granddaughter of the famous Seer Cassandra Trelawney was drowned out by the loud yell of Aberforth Dumbledore―the owner of the Hog's Head.
"How many more times do I have to tell you that you're band from this establishment," Aberforth angrily screamed up the stairs as he saw Mundungus Fletcher already halfway up the landing.
"Come on you rat, out with you!" Aberforth said, as he grabbed Fletcher by his dirty robes and dragged him towards the door.
By the time the noise level subdued, Trelawney had already come out of her trance and stopped speaking.
Why did the dunderhead asked me to meet him in the Hog's head when he's banned from it? Severus asked himself, annoyed with the black market dealer. Contemplating whether he should get a hold of Fletcher or the Seer first, he decided that whoever was in room one would still be there in five minutes, while Fletcher most likely would run off in some moments. So, he turned on his heals to go after Aberforth, who was currently busy shoving Mundungus out of the pub's door, hoping to catch Fletcher before he could Apparate away with his chimaera eggshells.
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With a purposeful stride and chimaera eggshells in his inner robes pocket, Severus re-entered the pub and walked to the room where he had heard the prophesy being spoken from. When he discovered that the only occupant of the room was a young woman with wild brown hair, sitting in an uncomfortable chair with her back facing the entrance, he walked straight up to her.
"Tell me, woman, what else did you say after 'our Lord will make him his equal'!" the dark-haired Potions master demanded in a no nonsense voice as soon as he was standing in front of the chair the young brunette was occupying.
"Me?" Trelawney squished out, intimidated by Severus' threatening stance in front of her.
"Yes, you!" Snape barked out, needing to know what else the prophesy said.
"I didn't say anything after I entered this room," the frightened woman finally stammered out after some moments, wondering if she may have talked while she had dozed off for a minute.
As the Potions master's face obviously became even angrier at her words, she hastily continued speaking. "I was just sitting here by myself, waiting for Headmaster Dumbledore's arrival. He is in the dire need of a new Divinations teacher and I've applied for this important position," Trelawney explained, hoping that the mentioning of the well respected headmaster of Hogwarts would be enough to save her from the Potions master's fury.
But in the end, it wasn't Dumbledore's name but his appearance in the room which saved her from any further harm Severus might have inflicted on her to hear the rest of the prophesy.
"Ah, Severus, my boy, what a nice surprise. What brings you here?" Albus Dumbledore asked his former student as joyful as ever.
"I was just asking this woman to tell me the second half of the prophesy she made minutes ago," he informed the headmaster. Maybe she will tell the whole prophesy to her future employer, especially since she said she is applying for the Divinations post, Severus thought as he―contrary to his better judgement―told Dumbledore of the existence of the prophesy.
"And here I thought you wanted to offer to take over teaching Potions from Horace," Dumbledore said, saddened. He would have loved to have Severus as the new Potions master of Hogwarts, but it seemed like he would need to find someone else for the post before the next school year started.
Remembering why the young Potions master was here, he asked, "If my memory serves me correctly, you never took Divinations at Hogwarts, did you?"
"No," Severus answered, wondering where this talk was headed as he was only interested in the rest of the prophesy.
"Then, my boy, you most likely don't know that a Seer is in a trance when they make their prophesies and can't remember their words when they come out of the trance. So, I fear, Severus, that we will never know the rest," Albus explained to his former student.
Wonderful, Severus thought, sarcastically. Why couldn't the idiot Fletcher decide to arrive five minutes later? Out loud he said, "Then I've no further business here and will take my leave so that you can begin with your job interview." And with that, he left the room in a whirlwind of his black robes.
Once outside the Hog's Head Snape Apparated back towards his Lord's Manor in England. Lord Slytherin surely will be very interested to hear about the prophesy, even if Severus could only provide him with half of it.
Meanwhile, Albus Dumbledore was very happy that he could cut the interview short. While he would have liked to discontinue Divinations being taught at Hogwarts, he at least believed that Severus wouldn't lie about having heard a prophesy being made by Trelawney. Therefore, for all intents and purposes Sybill Trelawney qualified to teach Divinations.
And while he pretended to listen to Sybill talking about her great-great-grandmother's gift, he wondered what the prophesy Severus Snape had heard was about.
It surely would have to be something very important if Severus was so interested to hear the second half, Dumbledore mused. But as Severus regrettably is loyal to Lord Slytherin, he won't tell me the contents on his own accord. Maybe I could try to..., Dumbledore began to plot.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
When Severus arrived at the driveway to Slytherin Manor, which was located at the outskirts of Northallerton*, he walked straight to Lord Slytherin's study on the second floor.
"Enter," Tom Marvolo Riddle, the current Lord Slytherin and ruler of Magical Britain, called from behind the closed ebony door after Severus knocked on it twice.
Opening the door, Snape walked towards the pear wood desk situated near the big window overlooking the garden, behind which Lord Slytherin sat.
While Lord Slytherin was already fifty-three years old, he still looked like the handsome pale twenty-one year old wizard with dark wavy hair and black eyes he had been at the day of his crowning. And while he had been very young at that time, the wizards and witches of Britain soon loved him. Not because of his beauty, but because he was a fair and highly intelligent ruler.
Many of the history books even went so far as to say that Tom Marvolo Riddle becoming Lord Slytherin was the best thing that happened to Britain since the construction of Hogwarts. Though, this mostly had to do with how Tom came into power.
While Tom's grandfather, Marvolo Gaunt, had been a good ruler, his son and heir Morfin had been ruthless and cruel. So, everyone was relieved when Morfin died not even three years after becoming Lord Slytherin. As Morfin Gaunt didn't leave behind any children the title went to his only sibling, his sister Merope Riddle, nee Gaunt. But because the laws say that only a male could claim the Slytherin title, it was her twenty-one year old son, Tom, who became Lord Slytherin.
While some of the pure-bloods at the beginning were sceptical if the son of the Muggle-born Tom Riddle Sr., and therefore a half-blood, would be able to handle the role which had always been played by a pure-blood descendant of the great Salazar Slytherin himself, Tom soon showed that he was more than qualified for the job of the ruler of Magical Britain.
The only thing speaking against him was that he still was without a spouse and more importantly an heir, even if many women had tried and were still trying to gain their Lord's attention. Bellatrix Black, a famous healer, was currently the one woman most desperate to become Mrs Riddle as her parents had informed her that she would have to marry Rodolphus Lestrange if she was unsuccessful in her attempt to catch Lord Slytherin's heart.
"Ah, Severus," Tom said, when he saw who had sought him out tonight. "What brings you here tonight?" he asked, offering the Potions master a seat.
"My Lord," Severus greeted, sitting down in the comfortable green leather chair. "I come because I've important news," he began.
"And what may they be?" Riddle asked, knowing that Severus would never come to him after dinner time if it wasn't important. After all, it was well known that he didn't want to be disturbed after seven.
"I was in the Hog's Head tonight. And while I was waiting for the Potions ingredient dealer to arrive, I overheard a prophesy," Severus explained his unannounced visit.
"And what did the prophesy say?" Lord Slytherin asked, resting his chin on his folded hands, interested in what Snape had to report.
Though, Tom could not help but wonder why Severus would go to the Hog's Head. He knew that Severus only worked with top quality ingredients, something which wouldn't be sold at a place like the Hog's Head. So, Snape had to have gone to get something which was most likely illegal in Britain. But, this could wait until later, now he just wanted to know what the prophesy said.
"It said, 'The one with the power to assure our Lord's reign approaches ... born to those who have thrice stood with him, born as the seventh month dies ... and our Lord will make him his equal'" Severus repeated the part of the prophesy he had heard word for word to his Lord.
"Nothing more?" Riddle asked, hoping that it may have said how his reign would be secured.
"I believe that there was more," the Potions master admitted. "But," he added before he could be interrupted, "I was unable to hear it as the voice of the Seer was drowned out by Aberforth's loud yell. I, of course, tried to find out the rest but, unfortunately, the Seer had been alone in the room, so no one knows if anything else had been said or what it was."
"How very unfortunate," Riddle said in a calm, calculating voice.
"So, who else knows of this prophesy?" Lord Slytherin asked after some moments of silence.
"Besides you, my Lord, and myself, only the Seer and Albus Dumbledore are aware of the prophesy's existence," Severus answered the question.
"And why does the old fool know about it?" Tom questioned, angered that of all the people the meddlesome headmaster of Hogwarts knew about it.
Tom Riddle had never liked Albus Dumbledore because the old man had never treated him with the respect he deserved during his Hogwarts years, simply because Tom, while being part of the royal family, was still a half-blood which made him nothing more than a commoner in the eyes of the pure-blood traditionalist.
He would love to get him replaced as the headmaster of Hogwarts but with Dumbledore being the defeater of Gellert Grindelwald, he was still too popular to easily sack. So, Riddle had no other choice right now than to wait until the old man would either resign or die.
"Headmaster Dumbledore entered the room while I was trying to get the second half of the prophesy out of the Seer. Apparently the woman had been waiting for him to arrive because they had a job interview for the Divinations post scheduled," Severus explained Dumbledore's knowledge about the prophesy's existence. And because he knew that there was no love lost between Hogwarts' headmaster and Lord Slytherin, he added, "Though, Dumbledore doesn't know what the prophesy is about."
Riddle only nodded his head in response to the words. "You did good, Severus, in reporting the prophesy to me," Lord Slytherin praised. "You can go now," he then dismissed his Potions master, wanting to be alone to contemplate what he would do with the new knowledge.
While Severus was unable to bring me the whole prophesy, the part he heard is at least informative enough to point me in the right direction, Tom thought after Severus closed the study's ebony door behind him.
Especially the last sentences gave Lord Slytherin many details about the second person the prophesy was referring to.
So, the person to assure my reign will be born at the end of July, most likely in this year, Lord Slytherin thought. Also, this person will obviously be male. A male carrier even, or otherwise I wouldn't be able to marry him and thus make him my equal as the prophesy suggests, he deciphered from the last part of the prophesy.
At least not many male carries are born, so that will considerably cut down the number of probable candidates, Tom thought with a smirk, getting up from his chair; it was time to finally retire for the day.
It is a shame that prophesies aren't automatically recorded* when they're made, Lord Slytherin thought as he closed and locked his study's door to walk to the master bedroom of Slytherin Manor on the third floor.
Lord Slytherin of course was right with his assumption that the male being a carrier would severely cut down the possible persons the prophesy could refer to. Only about one out of fifty wizards had the ability to get pregnant. Thus, a male carrier―or a Foreas* to use the technical term―was only born every one or two years in Britain. And in nineteen-eighty only one boy would turn out to be a Foreas.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Maybe Severus would never have told Tom Riddle about the prophesy if he had known the second half of it. Or maybe he would have done his best to make sure that the other path the prophesy proposed would have been followed instead of the path to destruction we unknowingly followed. But, as Fate had wanted it, on this snowy evening in February the path my life would take was already decided to be the path of destruction instead of the path of happiness it also offered. And so, the story of my life set out to end in a tragedy...
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Verbuar: Blinded in Albanian according to Google Translator.
Northallerton: As Great and Little Hangleton don't exist in reality, I searched for a real town which like Little Hangleton was located in the North of England and was about 200 miles away from London. I found Northallerton, which is about 230 miles away from London and located in the North of England. It also has a Country club nearby. So, it would be a good location for Slytherin's manor.
No recorded prophesies: In my AU a Prophesy room doesn't exist in the Ministry, so Tom can't find out the second half of the prophesy from the record which exists in canon.
Foreas: Greek for bearer/carrier according to Google Translator, though there it is actually written as Foréas.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-Verbuar―Blinded-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
AN: Thank you for taking the time to read the prologue. Should I continue writing, or are the story warnings too much for you?
