So just letting you all know there will be sporadic updates to this story, it takes quite a bit of heavy metal to get me into the mood to write these darker stories so take what you can when you get it. I'm setting up Lillith's support system of adults this and next chapter, after that we'll be jumping to right before and into the first year of Hogwarts, writing the Lilly/Tom mentor relationship is so much fun so there will probably be another update soon.

Oh, and edited the last chapter a bit, nothing major just a bunch of typos and one minor ret-con, anywho, enjoy and review!


Severus sat in a chair just outside of Lillith's hospital room mulling over what the goblins had enlightened him to, Lily Potter nee Evans had in fact been the Heiress of Slytherin yet had never taken up the title. This in on itself made sense on a few levels, Lily was the kindest soul the Potions Master had ever met but she was also ruthlessly cunning and brutally efficient when it came to venting her fiery temper. Couple that with the obvious blood war and association that Slytherin had with the Dark Lord and well...it was no wonder she hid it, but the same could not be said for the daughter; for all intents and purposes Lillith won the title of Lady of Slytherin through birthright and conquest October 31, 1981 when the Dark Lord fell.

Sighing he ran his hands through his freshly cleaned hair then leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling tiles, that had been relatively easy to swallow compared to the other news, he, an occulamancy master had apparently been obliviated nearly a dozen times by someone far more powerful then he in the past five years. The goblins had been able to remove the majority of the blockage and every instance had been him leaving the castle to check on Lillith out of his sense of duty to the mother and his personal accounts at Gringots, the perpetrator could be only one Wizard and that opened oh so many more problems for the young man.

"How the rudding hell am I going to sneak this past the old meddler?" He whispered to himself sadly, he heard a quiet *Ahem* and glanced up to see the healer who had repaired the child, "Yes Healer Tonks?" She smiled weakly and sat next to him crossing her legs and tapping her chin gently with finger,

"I...don't know the full extent of what's happening here but if there's one thing my father managed to instill in me it is the ability to recognize a power play when I see one, is it safe to say whoever placed young Miss Potter with those muggles had no authority to do so?" He tensed a bit but realized in a crowded hospital he really had no way to deal with her, so he simply nodded and hoped for the best. The beautiful yet tired looking healer met his eyes as she continued,

"Since you're now registered as the childs guardian and I happened to notice her new title on the certificate you have two ways to handle this, complete subversion keeping the responsible party in the dark and hoping to stay in the shadows, or..." She let out a humorless laugh while shaking her head, "Or you can drop the entire thing into the public spotlight, every dirty little secret outside of...outside of what happened to that poor sweet girl last night. If you let the wizarding world know that all legal guardians for 'The-Girl-Who-Lived' had either been killed, imprisoned, incapacitated or as in your case kept in the dark so she could be housed with muggles that abused her well..."

Severus stared at her a moment looking a bit gobsmacked, the healer laughed at this shaking her head lightly, "Don't be so shocked, we might not have run in the same circles but you of all people should be aware of the fact I was born a Black, this sort of thing comes naturally to us..." Sighing again she stretched a bit like a cat then stood up, "If you need tutors for the girl well...she is a relative, I'm sure Bellatrix would be as willing as I to help teach her on how to act the proper pureblood once my sister hears about the title." She noticed Severus go rigid at that and waited for his response,

"Her...husband and I have a history, albeit one more cordial then I had with his associates..." At that she shrugged,

"As far as I'm concerned Remus Lupin is a good man, he has a respectable job as the Potter Estate steward and he's the only man I've ever met who can keep my sisters...eccentricities in check, she's told me his old schoolyard gang use to get into it with you often but you're going to have to decide who you want helping raise the girl." Meeting his black gaze with her violet she gave him a final sad smile, "Do you want the outcasts who know how things work and how to avoid becoming someones pawn, or those that would turn her into the next Lucius Malfoy?" With that the healer left him to check on her patient, leaving Severus to his thoughts.


Lillith was in what Tom's inherited memories called a dreamscape, it took the form of a massive library that went as far as the eye could see, she spun around a bit and felt a skirt twirl around as she did so. Pausing she looked down and gasped as she realized she was wearing an extravagant emerald green gown and it hugged her adult body in all the right places, panicking slightly she heard an amused laugh behind her. Turning quickly the most beautiful man she'd ever seen was leaning against a bookshelf, his cool dark eyes and coiffed coal black hair accentuating his fine chiseled features and relaxed indifference

"Looking good killer eyes," with that he gestured before her and a floor length mirror appeared, Lillith approached it and gasped covering her mouth with both hands, the woman in the reflection was tall and lithe, raven hair pulled into an elaborate series of braids framing her heartshape face. There was just a touch of blush and eyeliner to complement her porcelain skin and glowing eyes, the dress matching their shade of green perfectly, "This is what you have to look forward to since you accepted my help, well worth it I think." Collecting herself she shrunk back down to the emaciated six year old with a middle aged mad geniuses vocabulary,

"Hello Tom, I thought you were gone?" He smirked at her and bowed offering his hand to her,

"If my Lady would follow me?" Grinning she took the offered hand happily and let him guide her through the library,

"I am what I'd call...a shade of who I was, the last bit of goodness left in the man once known as Tom Riddle, I'll remain here in the back of your mind guiding you along as you grow up, regulating what knowledge you can access so as not to raise anyone's suspicions, after all a little girl able to blow up a building with her mind would raise some suspicions." She nodded at this and looked up at him with a bit of adoration,

"We have to stay calm and be Slytherin about it right Tom?" Nodding with a smirk he continued,

"The number one rule of being a Slytherin is this, 'Don't Get Caught', that's why we burnt your relatives alive rather then butchering them as they deserved, no one is really going to suspect you of foul play but if you had shown up at Saint Mungo's coated head to toe in blood with the Dursley's left in fillet form well...it'd raise questions wouldn't it?" She nodded with a grim smirk curling up her lips,

"Would have been satisfying though," Tom nodded in agreement,

"Indeed my young apprentice, indeed, but there will be more enemies to vent our rage on later on, they seem to come out of the woodwork when their betters decide to take what is rightfully theirs." He stopped before a bookshelf with the number '6' emblazoned above it, "This is the knowledge I will impart on you until you reach the age of seven, it will progressively expand as you get older, the black volumes are my memories, the green will be yours." Nodding she was sad to see how few of the books were hers personally, she vowed then to give an equal contribution to what Tom gave her.

"I need to become stronger...so that never happens to me again..." Tom gave her a sad smile as he picked her up and held her in a firm hug,

"You young one may possibly be the only person I've ever felt even the idlest inkling of attachment for, we'll make you a force that no one will see coming and couldn't possibly stop even if they tried, you'll be the snake waiting in the grass, fangs dripping with venom ready to strike." She nuzzled her head into Tom's neck as the dreamscape began to fade,

"I can't wait..."


Andromeda stuck her head out of the doorway gesturing towards Severus, he stood and entered the room to see Lillith happily downing a plate of scrambled eggs, the little girl looked up at him with bright green eyes, Lily's eyes, and smiled Lily's smile, his heart ached at the sight.

"Hello! Aunt Andi tells me you saved me! Thank you so much!" Pausing he looked towards the slightly bashful Andromeda Tonks,

"I uh...let it slip we're related, to say she was excited would be an understatement," rolling his eyes Severus approached the bed and pulled a chair up next to it, taking his seat he met the girls gaze and she stared back evenly.

"You little one, are disturbingly like your mother, lets just hope you don't take too much after your father, Merlin help us..." she gave him a queer look at that but then smiled again,

"Can you tell me about my parents Uncle Sev, please?" Trying and failing to suppress the smirk that flashed across his face he nodded and spent the next hour letting her know about her past, he was quite proud of himself for only calling James a dunderhead and git twice, it seemed to amuse her oddly enough so all was well there. Eventually her bright visage darkened and she nervously dragged a thin finger across her blankets, "Do I have to go back to the Dursley's?" Grimacing at that he decided to refrain telling her they were quite thoroughly dead for the time being and just give her the good news instead,

"No little one, I've been appointed your new guardian, and there are many people who want to be a part of your life who will help you adjust, if you pick things up as quickly as your mother and-" he begrudgingly admitted this next part "-your father we're going to have a hard time keeping up with you." She smiled at that,

"So...so are you my new dad?" His heart once again felt like it was failing, but a warm kernal of...something began to grow there, after a moment he realized with some shock that it was happiness, smiling sadly the former Potions Master of the fallen Dark Lord Voldemort replied,

"Yes, I'm going to be your new dad," she squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck, as he thought about how he was going to pull this off and be a good role model Lillith's thoughts went elsewhere

'Tom is so unlucky he was born a boy, adults just can't stand up to a little girls cuteness, this is going to be ever so much fun!'


Yeah I hooked up Remus and Bellatrix, I'll explain next chapter but for now lets just say I wanted them in the story and this worked, please REVIEW!

Author Edit-Reviewer was asking if this was a Lilly/Hermione story, honestly I think it might eventually swing into femslash if for no other reason then most of the rape victims I've met have a distinct disinclination to let men anywhere near them (One of the reasons I write the femslash thing so often is simply because of the shear amount of bi and lesbian friends I have, they're a very helpful sounding board). *Shrug* I will give you this bit, they will be best friends and it WILL cause some...issues for the House of Snakes and it will all play into Lilly and Tom's plans.