Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I do not own any of the familiar characters, places, plotlines, slang-words (Muggle, Pureblood, Slytherin), etc. etc. It all belongs to Queen Rowling. I also do not nor will I ever make any profit by writing this story.
Ravaxis Cadmus Lestrange, only son of Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange, was much cleverer and much stronger than assumed based on first impressions. His mother and father would tell you in a heartbeat how quickly he picked up on skills, how his grades in school were perfect, and how much of a perfect pureblood heir he was.
However, there were many things they wouldn't tell you. A few being that Ravaxis Cadmus Lestrange was not their child, was not even the child's real name. They wouldn't tell you that he was, in fact, being brought up to serve a particular purpose. And they most certainly would not reveal that the particular purpose was to serve the Dark Lord.
They hadn't told anyone that. Except for Ravaxis of course. He knew everything. Even if they did not want to tell him, he would always theorize, before asking Bella or Rodolphus if his theories were correct. They had long since decided just to tell him everything.
Ravaxis was a very special child, and his parents did not just say that to brag. They meant it. Ravaxis excelled in both theory and applicational magic, seemed to learn any and everything with effortlessness, and managed to do it all while looking bored. Or, if he did not have the desire to learn, he could make others do it for him. The perfect Slytherin.
That was what his parents raised him for, as mentioned before. He was to be given to Lord Voldemort. Perhaps as a sacrifice, perhaps as a weapon. Bellatrix raised him to be prepared for either.
Bellatrix was very careful with Ravaxis. Her husband was already suspected of Dark Activity due to his absences at work during the time of the Dark attacks in the war. Bellatrix had pretended she had been pregnant all along, and that Rodolphus was usually home protecting his wife and son. They had decided that raising the boy for their Lord whenever he returned was a priority, and if either of them ended up in Azkaban, it could set off a unfortunate chain of events..
It worked. It helped that the boy truthfully could pass off as their son physically. He had shiny, unruly black hair, which could easily be attributed to Bellatrix. He had the aristocratic featured commonly found among Purebloods, though the child was only a Half-Blood; the high cheekbones, strong bone-structure, pale skin, a straight and narrow nose, which Rodolphus had as well. He had picked up how to mask his expression from his "mother", along with her grace and confidence, and his "father's" subtly. He had a mature look about him, but could also play with his boyish charm.
The only issue was the color of his eyes. The shape could be his mother's. However, both of his parents had dark, intimidating eyes. Ravaxis had bright, expressive eyes. Rodolphus taught him how to fake emotions through his eyes long ago. Bella and Rodolphus always joked that he was so powerful, it even showed in his eyes, before Rodolphus told the well-practiced lie that he had a second cousin with the precise same shade of eye color.
The boy, in case any doubts are still left, is was Harry Potter. Taken from his crib, over the dead bodies of his birth mother and father. Taken just before help could arrive, Snape apparated moments after Bellatrix had stolen the child.
The Lestranges and their closest friends, Harry Potter was long gone. Even Ravaxis agreed.
To the rest of the world, Harry Potter was dead.
A/N: So, this is just a one-shot right now. I'm thinking of turning it into a full-length story. Please leave reviews or message me with opinions or ideas. If I do decide to turn it into a full-length story, I'll post another chapter saying so, but I won't post any more until the full story is done. I hate leaving people hanging, which is what I've done with Let Her Go. I promise, I'm going to finish that story, but my mind is too full of other ideas. Soon, though, I'm going to sit myself down and force myself to work on it.
Seriously though, I won't turn this into a multi-chapter story if it appears no one is interested. Any fanfiction I post is practice for the books I'm writing and planning on getting published. I won't waste my time doing something I get no response to. Critique is very appreciated.
WAIT ONE MORE THING! I was going to go for the cliche name "Hadrian" for this story, but I decided not to. If, however, you believe I should use Hadrian or I should use a different name, please feel free to tell me. Or leave name suggestions. It's really hard renaming a character like this.
Not beta'd or Brit-picked. Until next time, mon petit choux!
~Rae Ani