Chapter 2

Happy Anniversary, Tom

Time seemed to fly by for Alice as she began to learn from Lord Voldemort. It had taken some time to master things like unlocking her door, but quickly she was learning about many more things she could do. Every night, as the Dursley's went to sleep, she would sneak out, get something to eat, and then spend hours and hours listening to the Dark Lord, as he sometimes enjoyed being referred.

He taught her how to move objects with nothing but her own willpower, how to change an object's color, and how to control animals around the neighborhood. As time went on, he did not keep his lessons merely to practical spells, and shared his great wisdom and knowledge of the wizarding world. It all sounded so amazing, a secret hidden world where the special kept away from the lesser world of Muggles. She found herself dreaming of the day she was able to join that world in full, and escape the Dursleys entirely.

Lord Voldemort promised all that and more. He promised a day would come when she would rise up to great heights, and he would be the one to guide her there. With so many years of being looked down upon behind her, the young girl was all too eager to rise above the lows that were her life before her lord stepped into her life.

Her time with Lord Voldemort was so much fun that she didn't actually want her so called 'punishment' from the Dursleys to come to an end. Sadly, before school began, she was let out and made to work on her chores. However, this just proved to be more time for lessons, since the Dursleys rarely oversaw her work. The Dark Lord even showed her one little trick that helped keep Dudley's Gang away, and every time they tried to find her and got close when she was working, they would just seem to forget what they were doing and rush off to do something else.

Even school was made better by the Dark Lord, because he would whisper his own lessons to her that were much more interesting then anything the teacher had to say. For once, she was just as uninterested in her fellow students as they were with her, all her thoughts on the voice in her head and the magic at her finger tips. Olivia King teasing her about her glasses, or her awful clothes, or anything else couldn't snap her back into the muggle reality.

And so it went, as she continued to grow in power and confidence under the tutelage of her one and only friend, and all her problems with the present seemed to wane before the promise that was the future.

One Saturday morning, or rather Halloween morning, she awoke to a strange prickling sensation in her scar. She had long gotten use to the tingling sensation when the Dark Lord spoke with her, but this particular sensation was new. She opened her eyes, and looked around curiously, and what her eyes found shocked her.

Crouched beside her bed (if it could actually be called that) was a man. Like her, he had black hair, but it was much more neat and smooth. He had a rather handsome sort of face, and a charming smile. But the thing that drew her focus most immediately were his red eyes that seemed inhuman and powerful, radiating with confidence and pride beyond measure. "My lord?" she whispered, because for some reason those eyes instantly made her believe this man could be no one else. They were also oddly familiar.

"The one and only," he said, smile never wavering. She was able to take in more of his appearance now, noting that he seemed about in his late thirties or early forties, and wore black robes, though how she could tell that in the darkness of her cupboard was beyond her. "It seems I've figured out a way to visually represent myself to you. How do I look?"

"Incredible, my lord," she whispered in awe. She tried to reach out and touch him, as he looked so real, but found her hand phasing through him.

"Alas, I'm not yet able to fool the rest of your senses," said the ghost of a man living in her head. "Though considering how far we've progressed, I am sure I'll find a way soon enough." Alice smiled at that, now dreaming of the day she could get a pat on the head for a good day's work. "But this is at least a good anniversary present, I think."

"Anniversary?"

"Yes, six years ago today was when I became attached to you." Alice smiled widely at that. It seemed Halloween had just become an even better holiday for her.

Alice had always thought Halloween was an amazing holiday, despite never getting to celebrate it herself. As the Dursleys loathed imagination and adolescent hooliganism (as long as it was committed by everyone except Dudley and his gang), they hated everything about Halloween. In hindsight, they probably hated Halloween because it was the one day of the year every other muggle seemed to revere everything magical and witch-like in the world, something that was an affront to their magic-hating sensibilities. But Alice liked seeing the costumes outside, and dreamed of what it would be like to go out trick-or-treating with…

"Were my parents… like us?" She had always avoided asking the Dark Lord about her parents, not even sure if he knew them or not. He had never gone into much detail about the accident that had gotten him attached to her in the first place.

Lord Voldemort looked thoughtful at that for a moment. "Yes," he said at last. "You will find they are another thing your worthless Aunt and Uncle have often lied to you about. They were certainly no drunken idiots." Alice stared at him, wide eyed and eager to hear more. "They were powerful and talented. High marks at Hogwarts, and very brave. I truly do have to commend them on their courage most of all."

Alice's heart was filled with pride for her parents that she had never been able to cultivate before. So they weren't drunk, they were amazing. If even the Dark Lord had to praise them for their courage, she could easily see them as heroes she had always fantasized could have been her parents. "But… if they were a Witch and a Wizard, how did they die in a car crash?"

The Dark Lord stared at her blankly, before a high, cold laugh escaped from him. For a moment, Alice thought his smile had become a touch more cruel, but he quickly gained control of himself again. "Sorry, my dear, I forgot just how much your living family has lied to you about the reality of the situation," he said. "They did not die in a car crash."

For some reason, more than all the other lies, that one got a real anger to rise from deep in her chest, charging the air and making it warmer. "Those… THOSE… Muggles…" she growled to herself. For some reason, she thought her mentor's smile became a touch warmer at her rage.

"Yes, well, one day soon, we'll be showing those muggles the error of their ways together, Alice," he said, in perhaps the kindest tone of voice he had ever taken with her. "I promise."

Alice smiled at the Dark Lord, believing every word of that promise. Just one more thing to look forward to in their bright and happy future.

The rest of the day went almost like any other Halloween, with her aunt and uncle trying to distract her from everything wonderful and cheerful about the outside world with chore after chore. Of course, they had found that lately chores seemed to take up less and less of her time, as she had begun to use magic to speed up the process when they weren't looking. They were struggling with ways to keep her out of experiencing any of the Halloween spirit, short of just locking her in the cupboard for no reason.

Alice had become very careful about giving them reasons. There were no more freakish events, as far as they were able to see, and she and Dudley had not gotten into another scuffle since last time she was locked in the cupboard. While the Dursleys were generally horrible to her, they often liked to think they had good excuses for doing so, and without those excuses they had difficulty justifying keeping her from simply going outside and watching people go about in those ridiculous costumes.

Finally, Alice found herself able to slip away from their watch and going off outside. She took particular interest in watching what muggles thought Witches looked like, and looking at her mentor she began to think they might actually have it pretty accurate, though real robes looked far more regal then most cheap Halloween costumes.

When she eventually returned to her cupboard, enjoying the last of the day, she whispered dreamily. "Happy anniversary, my lord."

And then she fell into her dreams in a way she never had before. She had many dreams before, and one in particular that seemed to come back over and over again was something about a green light, though she never could remember the details. In fact, she often forgot most of the details of her dreams, but the one she had this Halloween night was particularly clear and detailed.

It was Halloween night, and after apparating in, Alice had allowed a child to pass by him, thinking he was only wearing a costume. A smile spread across him as he walked toward the house he had been unable to so much as perceive without a certain rat's words. Alice had his wand in his hand, before opening the gate and moving towards the front door, his eyes flashing towards the window to see a man staring back in shock and horror, before it hardened into a determined expression as he turned towards a woman and yelled something at her. Alice did not take any chances, his wand rising to ward the area against apparition. He then pointed it at the door, a silent bombarda blowing it open before he entered.

James Potter called out some inane insult, trying to distract Alice from his true prey. He barely paid the man a look as his wand locked towards the sound. "Avada Kedavra," he spoke, and the man who had thrice escaped his wrath slumped to the floor, unmoving. But Alice did not care… Yet she did. Something was breaking deep inside Alice at the sight, but she couldn't make herself react physically as he glided up the stairs.

Behind a closed door, he could hear a baby crying. Another silent bombarda and the door split apart, revealing a woman in front of a crib, staring at Alice with fear beyond imagining. For some reason, that look of fear was utterly priceless, and made Alice laugh in a high, cold voice. And yet, at the same time, she was trying to do everything she could to stop herself. He did not stop.

"Not Alice, not Alice, please, not Alice!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl," came Alice's high voice. Alice could at least tell Severus that he had tried. He raised his wand again. "Stand aside now." It was a command, one chance to live.

Her eyes were awash in tears that streamed down her face, and the begging didn't stop. Alice continued to laugh at her even as she begged for mercy for her only child. "Avada…" Alice noticed a change in his victim just as the he was about to kill her. Their eyes locked together, those fierce green eyes locked to his red ones, and he could feel a fierce determination and magic swelling deep inside her, charging the air around them. "Kadavra."

The green light of death ended her stare as she slumped to the ground. Whatever last minute defense she had been trying to muster, even without a wand, it had not worked. Alice stepped over her body and toward the crib of a crying child. The child's eyes were as green as her mothers, and this was the first time that Alice locked eyes with Alice.

And Alice remembered. Those red eyes, that laugh, that face like a white snake in black robes. She remembered it all. One last time the wand was raised, and that deadly spell was spoken before terribly pain engulfed them both.

Alice awoke with a cold sweat across her body. "… Accident… My lord?" she whispered.

He appeared in that visage he had made to seem more friendly. "Now, Alice, I can expla-"

"Explain?" she whispered, but her fury made the words reverberate in the mind of the Dark Lord stuck inside her. Magic seemed to spark in the air. "No need, my Lord." She spoke the last word like a curse, those green eyes meeting the red once more, but now that determination was much more like her mothers then like the crying child too confused to understand why her mum was laying down and wouldn't move again. "You… killed my parents. You are the reason I am here… All of it… It's because of you."

The Dark Lord looked at her quietly, her fury sizzling the air before he closed his eyes and shrugged. "Well, I tried to do this the subtle way," he said, before opening his eyes again. His appearance change in an instant. The handsome man was gone, replaced by the more snake-like visage he had in life. A sharp pain came from her forehead and into her head, followed by a squeezing sensation. It was like a snake tried to coil around her brain and tried to squeeze it to death. Even further, it felt as though he scar was on fire.

Alice tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. "Just stop fighting, Alice," the Dark Lord Voldemort whispered softly. "Everything I've promised will come true. You will be more powerful then you could possibly imagine, and I will be free at last. Just give in, and let me take over. Alone, you were powerless to even stop a family of muggles, you must know that you'd be better off letting me handle the rest of your life."

Alice had not felt so helpless since the first night she spoke with the Dark Lord. She could feel herself giving in, Voldemort creeping into her mind and taking every last branch of self control she had. She couldn't speak, could only hear what he wanted her to hear. She felt helpless, not even able to feel like she could put up a fight. But there was an image in her mind.

Mum staring down the Dark Lord Voldemort with those fierce green eyes despite knowing she was about to die. Why hadn't she stepped out of the way? She could have lived, instead of wasting her life begging to a man who knew no mercy, if he was even a man at all by then. But that made another question pop in Alice's head. Why had that worthless, crying child that had been herself survived when the Dark Lord did the same to her?

"Mum beat you," Alice realized, out loud. The Dark Lord blinked, unsure how he had lost his grip on her, and rapidly finding that grip loosening further. "She looked that way because she knew she could stop you. She won."

Yes, her mum really was a hero. Alice stared at the Dark Lord who had been trying to seduce her into being his puppet for months, and realized he was… Weak. "No wait… She's still winning." Alice began to push that mental image towards her scar, and Voldemort hissed as though in pain, his visual representation appeared to smoke and blister all over. "She's still winning, and all I have to do is finish the job."

Alice clutched her head, and met the burning pain with her own determination and the strange sensation thinking of her mother's last moment of victory gave her. The battle of wills began to make her feel more. She could feel Voldemort now. He felt so… small. Petty, arrogant… Weak. She pushed this strange power against him and felt him cracking under the strain.

"Alice!" he screamed, his own fear showing. Yes, she could feel it now, he was very afraid of meeting his own end, despite having dealt it to so many others without a care. "STOP! If you do this, you'll be alone again! You don't want that!"

That did make Alice pause. Despite her righteous anger, somewhere inside her, she did want to keep the friend and mentor who had taught her so much and made her feel special, even now knowing it was a trick. But as the pressure continued to crack at the Dark Lord, Alice could feel him more clearly. She met him with a cruel smile, as cruel as his own had been to his mother six years ago. "Scared, Tom?"

A fury rose from the Dark Lord at that name, and suddenly he was trying to push back. "THAT IS NOT MY NAME!" he screamed.

Alice felt something crack inside herself at this backlash, though it was nowhere near the damage she was doing to Tom Riddle now. "Happy Anniversary, Tom," she mused, as she broke him apart. She didn't destroy him, not even sure if she could destroy him really, but she did break him. She began to pick up the pieces. "You were right… I don't really want to be alone again." And she wouldn't be, he was still there, just in too many pieces to struggle.

Alice Lily Potter was too young and in too strange a situation to realize what exactly happened to her as their magics stopped struggling and she passed back into sleep, mentally clutching onto the pieces of soul she had just shattered. She had no idea how much damage souls could do to each other when fighting, nor what would happen afterwards. In fact, Alice Lily Potter never knew anything again, because she never woke up again. At least, not as the girl she used to be.