Note: In my story Voldemort is going to be close in age to Lucius, Severus, the Marauder's, etc.

"Finally," Severus sighed, sitting down at the desk in Draco's room and rubbing his temples, "The magic suppressant is out of Potter's system, and now we can focus on actually healing him." Draco was sitting on the bed next to Potter, his grey eyes weary.

"Two hours just to get that horrible stuff out of his system," the blond scowled shaking his head, "I can't believe Dumbledore would do this to a student-especially Potter! I always thought Potter was his precious Golden Boy…why would he do this?"

"You shall have to wait and ask Potter that question," Severus said, before pinning Draco with a sharp stare, "I have noticed that you seem to be unusually worried about him lately-is there something you would like to share with me Draco?"

"What?" Draco cried indignantly, before schooling his expression into a mask of indifference, "I have no idea what you are talking about Severus; I simply do not want Potter to die in my room because it would look bad and…" he trailed off as he looked down at the unconscious brunette lying helpless on his bed; one hand reached out towards the unruly dark locks, but Draco jerked back before he actually touched the other boy.

"I don't know what's happening Sev," he admitted quietly, "Ever since I first realized the black tiger in my yard was Potter I just felt drawn to him…actually, I have always been drawn to him, ever since that first day in Madame Malkin's, and the pull has grown stronger over the years. Today when I realized he was hurt, badly hurt, I realized that I wanted to protect Harry, and get revenge upon whomever did this to him. The thought of having to eventually turn him over to the Dark Lord makes my heart ache and the thought of anyone else touching him…" He let out a low growl and then looked over at Severus with wide eyes; "I don't know what's wrong with me Sev."

"I think I may know," Severus said thoughtfully, "You will be sixteen the day after tomorrow, and that is when powerful wizards come into their Inheritance, as do wizards with so-called "Creature" blood in them. I am sure you know what is in your family's genealogy…"

"Yes," Draco nodded, paling slightly, "There is Veela blood on both sides of my family; oh Merlin! You don't think that Potter is my-"

"You will not finish that sentence if you value your life and my sanity," Severus interrupted, glaring at the young blonde, "However, it does seem plausible; there is no sense in worrying about it just yet because you will not know for certain until your birthday-maybe not even until his birthday. Now, I believe it is time to wake Potter up and give him the healing potions. Afterwards we can discuss the collar he is wearing." He arched a brow at Draco who merely smirked back at him, having recovered a little of his usual attitude. Severus stood up and crossed the room until he stood by the bed looking down at the injured boy.

"Will he even be able to sit up and drink the potions?" Draco wondered, "His back is really torn up, and his ribs are still broken."

"You have some explaining to do Severus," the dangerous purr had them both turning to see Voldemort standing in the doorway; "I thought the boy would be healed by now; why is he still injured?"

"My Lord," Severus bowed, "I just finished purging his body of a magic stripping potion, and now Draco and I are going to give him the healing potions; the injuries are more serious than I had first thought."

"You said you weren't going to tell him," Draco growled, moving to stand between Potter and the Dark Lord while levelling a glare at his godfather, "You lied to me! I can't believe-" he glanced at the Dark Lord standing in his doorway and paled; swallowing nervously, he quickly apologized, "Please forgive me, My Lord; I mean no disrespect, however I have been-"

"Draco has been feeling rather protective of Mr. Potter," Severus interrupted smoothly, "We are not yet certain of the cause, but I will be looking into as soon as I get the boy healed-that is, with your permission, of course."

"You have my permission," Voldemort said carelessly, "Now, finish healing Ha-him; there is much that needs to be discussed." The Dark Lord sat at the table which still held the remnants of the lunch Draco had ordered for himself and Potter earlier, and helped himself to the fruit that had been kept fresh under a cooling charm.

"Of course, My Lord," Severus bowed before turning his attention back to his godson, "Now Draco, I am going to cast a numbing spell on Mr. Potter so that we can wake him up; he will still have control of his limbs, but he won't be able to feel what he is doing. Because of this, you will need to keep him still so that he does not hurt himself. I will allow you to assist him with drinking the potions, as he will be less likely to cause a scene. First, however, I will fix his ribs so that no further damage is done." Severus touched Potter's chest with the tip of his wand and chanted the same healing spell Draco had used earlier; once he was finished, he then silently cast the numbing spell and nodded at Draco, indicating for him to remove the stasis charm. A few seconds later they heard a low moan and Harry weakly lifted his head off the pillow.

"Wh-what happened?" the brunette asked, "Where am I?"

"You are in my room Potter," Draco replied, trying to make his voice low and soothing so that Potter wouldn't panic, "We were discussing your reasons for being here when you passed out in pain; you have three broken ribs, and your back has several lacerations which were bleeding."

"Malfoy?" Harry questioned, squinting as he tried to focus on the blonde-haired boy, but all he could see was a pale blur, "Who else is here? And-I can't feel my body! What did you do to me?!" He began struggling to move, but the numbing spell made it near impossible, and Draco winced as some of the wounds on his back began bleeding again.

"Stop that," he admonished, gently grabbing one of Harry's arms in an attempt to make the other boy lie still, "Only your ribs have been healed so far, and you're making the rest of your injuries worse!" Harry ignored him and continued to struggle, so Draco grabbed a fistful of hair and forced the Gryffindor to look at him; the small pain served to calm the other boy slightly and he looked at Draco with wide green eyes; "Potter; Harry-stop moving so we can help you. If you calm down I'll explain what's going on and then we can heal you and you'll be able to move again, okay?"

"O-okay," Harry agreed quietly, "You never did say who was in here with us."

"Well, you were hurt pretty badly," Draco began, "so I called Severus to help me out and-"

"What?" Harry interrupted, turning his head to try and see his potions professor, "No! Why did you do that? Snape will tell Dumbledore and he'll make me go back; I don't want to go back! I won't go back!" Harry's expression was mutinous, his green eyes flashing in anger.

"Calm down Potter," Snape drawled, "I have no intention of telling Dumbledore where you are, although I will expect some answers from you once you are healed. Speaking of which, Draco is going to help you sit up and turn over so that you can drink your potions." Harry had quieted down again and he nodded his agreement-or at least tried to nod.

"Um…Malfoy? Can you let go of my hair now?" He asked, "I promise I'll try not to freak out any more."

"Like I would believe that," Draco scoffed, but he released his hair anyway and helped Harry maneuver into a sitting position; once Harry was propped up against the pillows Draco reached over to grab his glasses off the bedside table, placing them carefully on the other boys face. Relieved at being able to see again Harry let his gaze wander the room; there was Snape on the other side of the bed organizing some potions vials and sitting at the table, calmly eating a piece of fruit, was-

"Voldemort!" Harry cried, "Oh Merlin! Why even bother to heal me if he's here? You might as well just let me die!"

"You really are melodramatic," the Dark Lord commented, and Harry knew he had to be losing his mind because Voldemort had just sounded amused; Amused! "I am not here to kill you Harry-I am here in reference to the letter you sent me. You do recall sending me a letter, do you not?"

"A letter? Oh, yes," Harry said weakly, "I-It slipped my mind for a bit, what with everything else that's been going on. So are you here to negotiate-"

"We will discuss that later," Voldemort interrupted, smirking when Harry glared at him, "Now, you be a good boy and let Severus and Draco here heal you and then we shall have lunch since you passed out before eating."

"It's not my fault," Harry pouted, "I didn't ask my un-you know, never mind. I'm ready to take the potions now Professor Snape."

"Seeing as how it is summer and I am not currently your teacher you may call me Severus," the dark-haired man informed him, "Now, I have three potions for you, and you must drink them all. The first one is to heal the internal damage-how did your ribs get broken?" He handed Harry a red potion and the brunette made a face, downing it all in one go before he answered.

"It was my cousin Dudley," Harry replied, "Or, I guess my uncle could have been partially responsible. The past few days are a little hazy."

"Yes, well you are lucky you don't have a punctured lung, although you did have some internal bleeding. It seems your magic was able to heal the most life threatening injuries, even with the suppressant, " Severus said drily as he handed him another potion, this one silver with flecks of blue in it, "This one will heal the outer wounds…" he paused for a moment to allow Harry to drink that one before handing him the final potion, which was a deep purple, "And this one will get rid of any infection." Harry quickly drank the last potion, gagging at the aftertaste.

"Why are these things always so disgusting?" he demanded, "It would be easier to get people to take their potions if they didn't taste like dirty socks."

"There are very complex reasons as to why we are unable to alter the taste of potions," Severus began, "but I would hardly expect you to understand, so I will not waste my time explaining it to you. Now, lie still so I can run a scan and make sure you are healed. You'll need to move Draco." Draco stood up and Severus waved his wand over Harry's body; Harry was encased in a pale blue light and Severus nodded in satisfaction once it faded. "Well, you are perfectly healthy-physically at least; I can in no way vouch for your mental health."

"Yeah yeah; whatever," Harry said dismissively, "Ummm….I'm kind of hungry; do I still get lunch?" Severus rolled his eyes but summoned a house elf and soon the four of them were sitting down to lunch. Harry ate in bed, as Severus said it was best for him not to move too much while the potions settled, and the other three sat at the table by the window.

Once they were done eating Draco sat back down next to Harry on the bed, while Severus and Voldemort conjured comfortable-looking chairs so they could sit nearby.

"Now, Potter," Severus began, "I believe it is time to give us some answers; I discovered a few things last night which we also need to discuss-" he glanced at the Dark Lord who nodded for him to continue, "However first you need to tell us what happened to you-and explain why you are wearing a collar that belongs to the Malfoy family."

"Fine," Harry sighed, leaning back into the pillows and closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at anyone, "I guess I should start at the beginning, with my family. Okay, so my relatives have never liked me and they neglected me and called me names all throughout my childhood; they told me my parents were worthless and dies in a car accident and also that magic wasn't real, yet whenever anything happened they blamed me and locked me in the cupboard, although they stopped beating me when I was about eight and my accidental magic destroyed the living room."

"What was that about a cupboard?" Voldemort questioned, "Did they put you in there for punishment?"

"No," Harry opened his eyes and shook his head, then frowned, "Well, yes, but…until I was eleven I slept in the cupboard under the stairs; that was my bedroom. When the Hogwarts letters started arriving, my relatives moved me up to Dudley's second bedroom because they were afraid that they were being watched." Harry's expression became one of disgust as he added, "I should have realized something was strange even back then; my letter was actually addressed to the cupboard under the stairs, so Dumbledore-or whomever was in charge of sending out the letters-had to know what was going on." Harry scowled at the bedsheet, then shook his head and continued, "Anyway, so my family neglected, starved and insulted me for years, but they never hit me after I turned eight, until a couple nights ago. I was sneaking down to the cupboard to get my school things out so I could do my homework when I heard the doorbell ring and then I heard Dumbledore's voice…"

He proceeded to tell them everything that had occurred that night, from being force-fed a potion to getting beat by his uncle to being used as Dudley's personal punching bag; he explained that Dobby had given him the collar and how he awoke in a tree earlier that day. "…so that's why I ran away and how I came to be wearing a collar that obviously ties me to Malfoy here."

"I will kill them," Voldemort said calmly, but Harry looked up and noticed that his crimson eyes were flashing, "For Muggles to lay hand on a wizard in that manner is simply unacceptable-and Dumbledore! Dumbledore is a disgrace to wizards everywhere; I always knew he was unfit to be headmaster. I will personally make sure that Albus Dumbledore pays for what he did to my-"

"My Lord," Severus interrupted quickly, "Perhaps now would be the time to tell the boys what we discovered last night." The Dark Lord stared at him blankly for a moment, before nodding his agreement.

"Yes, I suppose they deserve to know," the Dark Lord said slowly, "Especially…But I am not sure they will believe it; I had a hard time coming to terms with the information, even after watching the memories."

"Will you two stop being so cryptic and tell me what's going on?" Harry demanded, earning himself a glare from Voldemort, "What? You're obviously talking about me, or something that concerns me, and so I think I have a right to know what it is! Or, are you going to be like themand keep secrets from me too?"

"Very well," Voldemort agreed, although he was looking at Severus as he spoke, "Perhaps we should allow them to view the memories themselves; is there a pensieve here Draco?"

"Father has one in his office," Draco replied, vaguely realizing that he was suddenly comfortable in the Dark Lord's presence-when had that happened?- "However it is warded and I am unable to break the wards." He frowned in thought, wanting to prove himself to be helpful-not only to the Dark Lord and Severus, but also to Potter; perhaps especially to Potter, although he pushed that thought away. How could he get to the pensieve without his father?

"Then we shall have to return to my manor," Voldemort said, "Unless Severus would like to go fetch his pensieve?"

"My Lord," Draco said hesitantly, "With your permission, I believe I can order my house elf to go get the pensieve out of Father's office; it should work, as I am Head of the family whilst he is in-unavailable."

"That would be acceptable," the Dark Lord nodded, and Draco summoned Tillie; once she had her orders it took only a few moments for her to return with the pensieve, and Severus took it from her, carefully setting it on the bed in front of Harry and Draco.

"Severus and I have already viewed these memories," Voldemort informed them as Severus added several memories to the stone basin, "so we shall wait here for you; some of what you see will be very upsetting, but you must not turn away-it is important." Harry and Draco both nodded warily, and Voldemort motioned for them to enter the pensieve. "Go on." Harry glanced at Draco hesitantly and the blonde offered him a small smile before plunging into the memories with Harry following a moment later.

"Now that they are gone," Voldemort began, "We need to talk Severus. You and I both know that I am not exactly what I appear to be; it was Dumbledore who made me this way."

"Yes, My Lord," Severus nodded, "however, I believe that I may be able to help restore you to your normal self, in time."

"You do not have to call me that any longer," Voldemort said, "If you can really restore me to my true form then Voldemort will die, and I will return to being Tom Riddle. In the meantime, when we are in private you may call me Tom; we were friends once Severus and I would like to be again."

"I would like that as well," Severus said softly, "I used to look up to you as an older brother; I wondered why I felt so disappointed with your actions over the years but, now that I have broken through the memory block, I understand. Lucius needs to see the memories as well; in fact, there are many people who need to see those memories, but I do not see how we can reach them all."

"Yes, Dumbledore went to extremes this time, and he has made things extremely difficult for us," Voldemort-or rather, Tom, agreed, "We shall bring Lucius in and allow him to view the memories, and then the three of us can decide where to go from there; it would be dangerous to allow everyone access to the memories right now lest Dumbledore discovers that we have our memories back."

"I agree," Severus said slowly, "However, what about the people who were directly affected by Dumbledore's actions? Those who lost children and loved ones?"

"We will inform them of the truth in time," Tom assured him, "but we would be overwhelmed if we attempted to share the memories with everyone at one time; I already expect to have a difficult time when Harry returns." The room was silent for a moment, then Tom changed the subject, "The boys will be busy watching the memories for some time, so I shall get everyone out of Azkaban and bring Lucius back here; if anyone contacts you advise them to go to a safe house and keep a low profile on my orders."

"I will, Tom," Severus assured him as he pulled a journal out of his robes, "While I wait I will get started on plans for your restoring potion."

"Good," Tom said, "I will be back shortly." He gave Severus a brief nod before leaving the room, and a moment later Severus heard the sound of the Floo in the study being activated. Sparing a quick glance at the boys to make sure they were still okay, he opened his journal to begin the calculations for the potion that would restore Tom Riddle to his former-and hopefully sane-self.

AN: Thank you once again to all of my reviewers! I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story so far. This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but it really didn't make sense to combine it with either the previous chapter or the one that will be posted next. I am slowly working my way through the revisions, and I should be able to continue updating about every two weeks, although the days might differ depending on my work schedule. I hope you enjoyed this chapter; all comments are welcome and appreciated. See you next time!