They cried for me and not once did I turn back. Their screams echo in my mind. Do I regret? No, never. I was their hero, their saviour. Somehow in those last moments I was meant to sacrifice myself in a battle I never wanted to fight. A battle I had no reason to fight. They didn't give me a reason. Was I supposed to simply forgive them in that moment when they finally realised that they needed me? They tormented me, hurt me…When I cried out for help none of them heed me. Even the Great Albus Dumbledore…he was too busy feeling betrayed that I had been put into the snake house; too busy imagining another boy fifty years before who had also been sorted into Slytherin. But that does not excuse him. I refuse to excuse him. He wronged me not the other way around. I do not and will not feel guilty about my decision.

Perhaps he thought he would punish me for going against his expectations. They all did. Yes, that was it. I was supposed to the icon of light, Gryffindor, Golden Boy and all that other shit. Not Slytherin though, anything but Slytherin. So I was duly punished, by my peers and by my teachers. Everywhere I was met with suspicion. Everything I did was questioned. My only comfort the spirits that reside within these ancient halls.

What I did was much worse than they could have imagined of me, at least from my point of view. I did not become the Dark Lord they feared. I did not join my fellow Slytherins and receive the mark of the man who murdered my parents. No, the first would involve too much effort on my part and the second…let's just say the Crutiatus Curse is a wonderful deterrent against gaining supporters; it's not a big incentive. So no, I am not a Death-Eater nor am I an aspiring Dark Lord. What is worse you wonder.

On the morning of the final battle, for it was going to be that last confrontation between Dumbledore's Order and the Ministry versus Voldemort and his followers, all the younger years were evacuated while others from fifth to seventh year either stayed behind to fight or snuck out to join their parents among the Death-Eater hordes. It was very solemn time; grim faces passed me on the corridors everywhere I went. I could almost hear the thoughts going through their minds. Would we win? How many would die? Would Hogwarts be left standing? If we lost... nobody wanted to think of loosing. It was not a possibility. They had Dumbledore, Neville Longbottom and if those failed me. Sometimes I wonder how even in those how they could think this traitor would save them. After all they had done to me. Did they think that they were justified; that I had been properly chastised by their attitude; that I would stop my dark tendencies if I was treated enough like shit by the mighty honourable people of light? I saw little children crying as they parted with their parents and friends. I saw friend and lovers treasure those last few moments before the unknown holding on to each other as the anchors to the world that was about to change forever. Win or loose their world would never be the same after that day.

I made my way up to the library where I had found solace over the past seven years. I made my way to that dark corner near the librarian's office where not even the most foolish of Gryffindors had dared to come for their ritual harassing of me. I set down the chest I had been carrying and took my seat by the window, opened an old tome I had borrowed from the Restricted section days earlier and waited; for the beginning and the end. That is what I did. It was the greatest betrayal and the greatest revenge. I had decided I would not lift a finger to aid them. They could win without me or they could loose. Either way I didn't care.

It was long, bloody and many people died. I know I watched later as the grounds were cleaned. Maybe it was because a part of me did feel guilty. I left the sanctuary of my quarters and walked among the line of dead bodies; endured the hateful, glares more potent than those on the night I was sorted into Slytherin. It was the consequence of my own choice. No one, not even he, had dictated it. I walked among them with grief that they did not know I felt. They hated me. I hated them. I let them know I had no regrets.

The battle lasted for a long time. The sun had long since disappeared it the horizon before the cries of fighters being fell at the end of their opponents' wands had died and the light of the numerous curses had stopped illuminating the grounds. I can tell the three major moments of the battle as they occurred; the fall of Dumbledore- there was such a frightening backlash of magic that I wondered if maybe he had taken Voldemort with him as he passed on to his 'next great adventure'; Neville Longbottom was killed by the enraged husband of Bellatrix Lastrange; then the moment when they called for him realising he would not come. They knew then that there could be no substitution for the prophecy. I was the only one who could destroy Voldemort. I did not even make a move to help, just as they had never done when I cried out to them. In that moment Lord Voldemort was victorious and the light lost all hope and fell before him.

The entrance doors opened. The victorious cheers echoed through the halls as finally the last strong hold of the light was breeched. I waited for him to come to me. It was and wasn't a very long wait. I would either die at the end, become his prize or be let free.

"Potter."

I looked up to find my Head of House, one Severus Snape, Lucius and Draco Malfoy standing in front of my desk wearing carefully blank expressions. The three of them would have intimidated any one else as they stood there in their battle robe and amour which they had obviously taken cleaning spells to. As I lowered my book I saw flickers of disbelief, shock and horror before they vanished as though they had never been. It was amusing to see such a strong reaction because of such a simple object. They had not reacted as such two years before when I brutally murdered Peter Pettigrew. All because of a book?

"Do you think I'm heartless," I asked not bothering to mask my feelings.

"People were dying," snapped little Malfoy. He's always had a nasty temper, bless him. I have to wonder how he got so far up in Voldemort's regime. Probably, daddy pulling the strings. I really don't care.

"People are dying all over the world as we speak."

"They aren't our problem," he shouted.

"Name me one friend of mine among any who fought out there today." I shrugged as their faces remained blank. "It was not my problem."

"The Dark Lord requests your presence in the Great Hall," Snape said trying to quell and argument.

I nodded and marked the page before closing the book. I stood up and pointed at the chest in front of me. "Don't use magic to carry it," I said before sweeping around them and walking toward the exit.

It annoyed them but they had no choice but to follow while carrying the chest between two of them. I led the way along familiar corridors and hidden passages only known to few. We arrive at the great hall without running into any of the others who I'm sure had been sent to search for me.

There were two guards on either side of the entrance to great hall. They tensed when I approached probably wondering why I wasn't in shackles. A curt nod from Lucius had them waving their wands at the giant doors.

I can just imagine the sight I made standing there as the doors slowly opened. Did I look defeated, proud, happy…? I suppose I shall never know. Not many people are comfortable with associating with me. I was either a traitor to the Light or the Dark Lord's enemy to everyone. They did not think they could trust me then, so I never asked. I can not imagine why though. I never gave anyone a reason to believe I was on one side or the other. Oh, well…I do not suppose they can remember now.

There was so much noise and chatter in the Great Hall before I entered. Death-Eater scurrying about and cheering their Master; prisoners, the defeated whispering words of comfort to one another- there was still hope I had not been found; maybe I was planning something. Well that hope was squashed when they saw me, unharmed, walking among their enemies as an equal. The sound dropped in an instant. All eyes were fixed on me. I felt that slight apprehension that always came with being at centre of attention. I wonder if that's how cells feel when under a microscope. The only eyes I was interested in though at that time belonged to the Dark Lord the new ruler of Magical Britain. He says I looked like a fallen angle, that all I needed then were a pair of black wings to complete the image. Those ruby-red eyes could draw a person in. They were scary and beautiful at the same time. You couldn't help but want to look at them. They are quite simply entrancing. But then I was not interested in that. I wondered if he would kill me. My bargaining tool was in the hands of his most trusted followers behind me. Did I care?

He smiled at me and opened his arms in a gesture of welcome. It was quite strange, a smile on the reptilian face. I shudder just thinking about it. I greeted him with the same casualness the Dumbledore used to demonstrate-calm, cool and confident. I had nothing to loose. Even my life had no value to me. I guess I just wanted to live so I could see whether he succeeded in rebuilding the world he had so damaged almost beyond repair. Had he overthrown one system only to replace it with another that was exactly the same? Did I care? As long as he gave to me what I wanted I can not say I cared beyond that.

Everyone knows by now what happened then even if the truth has been somewhat exaggerated. We talked as if we were old friend. I suppose we are in a way. There is no one who knows me like Tom and I would like to think that there is no one who knows him like I do.

Someone shouted that I was a traitor from among the prisoner. McNair took pleasure in shutting him up. It was Ronald Weasley. He shouted the same thing when I was sorted. Why? I never said that I would fight for them. That's what I asked. They never trusted me anyway. All they ever told me was that I was meant to destroy Voldemort. After that I'm sure I would have been thrown into Azkaban. After all I was Slytherin, I was a dark wizard and I was powerful enough to defeat the most powerful wizard since Salazar Slytherin. Yeah, they would have allowed me to walk free…Not.

Now the chest; it contained seven objects that the Dark Lord had created foolishly in his youth. A dairy, a cup, a locket, a diadem, a ring, a snake and an orb containing green lighting. They were the seven Horcrux created as a means to immortality. He knew the moment we entered the Hall that I had them and masked his excitement. I think he thought the Order had found and destroyed them. He tried so hard to mask his excitement during the moments we talked. I took pity on him and finally brought the conversation to the chest.

Lucius and Snape brought the chest forward cautiously because they did not trust me to not have put something in it that could harm their lord. Isn't it a pity that the world had become so sceptical? He laughed when I said that.

Everyone was tense. Wands were griped so tightly that knuckles turned white. Can anyone say, 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE', anyone?

Magic, pure magic flooded the room when the chest was opened. Everyone held their breath against its suffocating weight and struggled to remain clear headed as it crushed over them. I sat calmly, unaffected as I had created that magic after all, watching with unveiled amusement as the most powerful of His forces were brought to their knees. Tom tensed beside me but made no move to attack for he knew that if I had meant to harm him and his they would all probably be dead. When it let up some practically clawed the floor struggling to get their baring again and other made toward me threateningly but one glare from their lord stopped them in their tracks. The chest continued to radiate a strong pulse of magic.

Soft hiss emitted from the trunk then suddenly Nagini launched herself at me intent on taking revenge for her months of imprisonment and separation from her bond-mate. My hand shot out reflex and caught her just as she was about to sink her fangs into my face. The appearance of the black serpent finally severed any hope that the light might still have had that I was on their side; that my sitting there was part of some grand plan. The dark lord's familiar was a horcrux and that I did not destroy it while I had it for three months straight.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted you!" yelled a frustrated Mad-Eye-Moody, his magical eye spinning around wildly.

I smiled, one of those serene smiles that always unnerved people – a bit like Dumbledore's twinkling eyes only with the impression that I could kill a person with that smile on my face and walk away without once even faltering. I returned my attention to the great serpent whose body was now coiled around my arm. "If you break it I'll kill you," I hissed tightening my grip on her throat, "then where who your master be?

"Marvolo?" Her killing haze was abated as she tasted the air for his scent. She squirmed around my arm when she found him and I slowly rotated her head to face him. "Release me," she demanded and I arched my brow in response. "I will not harm you," she said. I did and she launched herself at her companion. "I will not harm you on this day," she said as an after thought.

"You will not ever harm me, little snake," I hissed at her.

"Now let's no fight," Tom said in a false soothing tone. "We are on the same side after all."

I did not bother to correct him. It didn't matter to me what he thought as long as he gave me what I wanted. I simply watched him waiting for the spell I had put on the horcrux to start working. It was almost unnoticeable except for the soft silver shine around the snake and him. He felt it working though; his magic being strengthened; his body being revitalised. His snake-like visage morphed into something slightly resembling the man he had once been.

Excited murmurs spread through the Death-Eater ranks at the sight of their master restored. Those who knew the significance finally understood the power that had emitted from the chest.

"I want Hogwarts."

They tensed and looked at their lord. They may not acknowledge it but they know that I am a match for him if not more powerful. If he refused would I fight him?

Hogwarts is my home. Hogwarts is his home. He understood I was not demanding it for myself. Hogwarts would stop being home if it became a fortress or some propaganda stronghold. Even Dumbledore had refrained from making it such. I wanted Hogwarts to remain as it was. I wanted to be allowed to remain in it.

"As you wish, Headmaster Potter."

It has been ten years. A lot has changed since then I'm sure. I have yet to leave the hallowed halls of my school so I do not know the extent. It must be better though because more children than recorded since the time of the founder have come. I listen to them sometimes. They are happy. Happier that we were. And Fawkes returned. She doesn't talk to me much but I think she forgive me. So does Hogwarts. It has bonded itself to me. We have both grown in power because of it.

Many people were surprised though when He didn't once return to Hogwarts after He and his followers left. But he will be here tomorrow. Everyone is excited.

Dark Lord Slytherin is coming to Hogwarts.

Do you think there should be a sequel?

PLEASE REVEIW