It was a calm, quiet night at number four privet drive, that is, until a 15 soon to be, unbeknownst to him, 16 year old wizard awoke from a nightmare of sorts.
He sat stock still, drenched in a cold sweat, fingers twitching and body aching, yet he continued to do his best at being petrified.
Harry Potter had just seen the most confusing and horrible, yet amazing thing he could ever imagine, and he could tell it was much too vivid to just be a dream, which only confused and excited him more.
He began to take in deep gulps of air, only just realizing he wasn't breathing to begin with.
Then he shook his head harshly, which only helped to make him more dizzy and nauseous, his hair flying every which way.
"That bastard." He growled to himself.
He found himself talking, muttering, and whispering to himself quite often these days, ever since school ended, ever since Sirius.
"How could he.." He trailed off, a dark look crossing his features. "Why in Merlin's name am I questioning his actions, just taking a look at my school years up until now, prove that he's manipulative and insane beyond repair."
He contemplated his dream, or memory as the voice in the back of his mind called it.
It was a similar sensation to that of being in a pensieve memory.
Harry watched as a young boy sat in his mothers lap, on a luxurious four poster bed, cradled in her arms as she tried to fix his untameable jet black hair.
"Its just like your fathers." She huffed with a fond smile, brushing his hair for what must have been the hundredth time.
"Mum, can I go play with Draco now." He whined from the blonde woman's lap.
She laughed at him lightly, before patting him on the head.
"Of course you can Raven, just be careful not to run into uncle Sev, that bat isn't in a good mood today."
The boy giggled, hopping off the bed, and racing to the open door.
Once he'd made it through the doorway his mother heard him squeal and stepped into the hall to see a tall man with messy, jet black hair and dazzling brown eyes, smiling while lifting their son in the air.
"Tom, be careful with him." She said to him, a soft smile on her delicate face.
Harry took in her appearance, she was very pale, with thin pink lips, had high cheek bones, a small thin nose, almost obsidian eyes and golden blonde hair.
"Oh Lissa, it's only a bit of rough housing." The man, Tom, said. "Nothing to worry your pretty little head about."
"I'll always worry, I'm a mother." She told him more seriously.
"I know." He conceded, a soft smile and nod sent her way.
Harry hadn't been paying attention to anything else going on around him, only the couple having a soft conversation about their son, so when he heard someone clear their throat from behind him, he jumped a good foot in the air.
"Tom, we need to reinforce the wards, and hide the children, You-Know-Who is at our gates." Severus said sharply, ending the moment for the little family and sending Analissa into a state of panic.
"Analissa, take Corvus into our room and hide, don't come out for anything unless you hear the safe word, okay?" Tom asked his wife carefully, she gave him a shaky nod.
She quickly grabbed her boy and ran back into the room, hiding him in the wardrobe and telling him to be quiet.
"What about dad?" The young boy asked quietly, fearfully.
"He'll be fine sweetie, I promise." She told him softly. "As soon as this is all over, we'll go downstairs and auntie Bella and uncle Sev will start bickering about how the other could have done better with their spell work and Draco will be waiting for you to play Chess. Daddy with take his favourite seat by the fire, watch you two fight over the rules, and auntie Cissy and I will finish that quilt we keep forgetting about, while uncle Lucius will sit with uncle Moony and Padfoot discussing his political campaign."
Harry could hear the disbelief in her voice, she was giving her son false hope.
"You'll see, daddy and Aquila will be back to tell us it's safe to come out any minute now." She smiled to her son, running a shaking hand through his hair before swiftly closing the wardrobe doors and pulling her wand out to place wards on them.
She walked away from the wardrobe, only to slump against the door to the en-suite, tears running down her face. She very well knew there was a great chance that all her friends and family downstairs were dropping like flies trying to protect her and her son.
She soon heard heeled shoes in the hall outside her room and quickly wiped her tears away, suspecting it might be foe rather than friend.
The door creaked open, and there in the doorway stood Bellatrix.
"Bella! Oh thank Merlin!" She exclaimed, rushing over to the quiet, slightly ecstatic looking, woman.
"Bella?" She said worriedly, stopping a foot short of hugging the woman she thought of as a sister. "What's the matter?"
Bellatrix then began to cackle, a sound Harry had heard a few times before, but still managed to make a shiver run down his spine.
"He's come for the boy, Lissa." She cackled. "Where is he?"
"What are you talking about, Bella?" Analissa asked worriedly.
"I'm talking about the Dark Lord, Lissa." Bellatrix spat at her. "He's come for Corvus."
"Bella! What has gotten into you?!" Analissa asked her with wide glassy eyes.
"I've realized that the dark side has more to offer me." She sneered at Analissa. "It's not a place were I have to take orders from filthy mudblood's, half bloods, or blood traitors."
A new set of footsteps came from the hallway and Analissa began to shake slightly.
"Bella, what happened to the strong and argumentative woman I know, the one who would never stoop so low as to choose his side?" Analissa whispered, looking to the floor.
"Just a simple imperious curse, my dear." A cold voice informed her as he stepped into the room. "I'd be happy to release her if you could tell me where the boy is."
Analissa's eyes darted to the wardrobe before meeting Albus'.
"Ah, so he's locked in the wardrobe." Albus chuckled darkly, taking steps towards it.
"No! Please, take me instead!" Analissa begged, rushing in front of the wardrobe in a last attempt to save her son.
"You know the prophecy well my dear girl, so you should know it can't be you I take tonight." Albus told her harshly, before casting the cruciatus curse on her.
"I need a child I can mold the mind of, someone I can create to fit my design." He said over her screams of agony. "That's why I need the boy, he's a seer by birthright, and I can use that to fit my will."
Even over the screams, and through the wards placed on the wardrobe, Harry could still hear Corvus sobbing for his mum.
Suddenly the screams stopped, Analissa was knocked unconscious, and Albus was opening the doors to the wardrobe.
"Hello." He told the boy softly, a grandfatherly smile plastered on his face, and blue eyes a twinkling. "I'm here to take you home."
Corvus just shook his head and tried to crawl away, but Albus was faster and quickly scooped the boy up in his arms.
"I'm going to help you remember your real family, alright my boy?" Albus asked kindly, but Corvus just tried to squirm away, only helping him scratch his head on the corner of the wardrobe.
It left behind a scratch that would eventually scar across his right eye.
"Obliviate." Albus whispered.
Just as Harry opened his eyes again he was met with the glowing red numbers of his alarm clock.
12:00 am
"Happy birthday to me." He whispered hoarsely, before falling back onto his bed and ignoring the few owls that came to drop off birthday gifts from his friends.
All he could think about, was why he had that memory.
He obviously knew a good amount of the people in it, and it scared him half to death knowing who Dumbledore truly was, but he was more concerned with why he
had the memory. After the year he'd had he was terrified that Voldemort had planted that in his mind so he would doubt Dumbledore, but slowly everything started making sense.
That was why Dumbledore never helped when Voldemort was attacking, it's also why he didn't care that Harry got so badly hurt all the time, or that the prophecy practically announced his death.
Then, finally, it hit him.
He wasn't Harry James Potter, he was the boy from the memory, he was Corvus Regulus Riddle.
