Lord Voldemort stared at Hadrian for a long moment.
"And what is your final piece of proof?" he finally asked. "It must be impressive, if you believe that it will convince me of such an outlandish tale."
Hadrian smiled, a genuine smile that was almost chilling.
"When you murdered Myrtle Maxwell, you used her death to create a Horcrux."
The Dark Lord stood suddenly, his wand in his hand, pointing in unwaveringly at Hadrian's forehead.
"How do you know that," he demanded.
Severus looked quite alarmed, and his own wand was out, though he wasn't pointing it at anyone. Luna seemed rather apathetic about the whole thing, and was humming an ethereal tune as she braided her long hair over her shoulder. She had, however, moved out of the way slightly so that the wand was not pointed at her.
Hadrian narrowed his eyes, but made no move to defend himself.
"I told you. I have traveled back in time. I was born in 1980. You murdered my parents in 1981, and unintentionally made me your living horcrux. Don't worry, My Lord. I have no intention of revealing your secret, and of course will take an unbreakable vow to that effect, as will Lavinia. We have told Severus nothing of this, so you do not have to worry about him."
This seemed to calm the Dark Lord somewhat, and he sat back down in his armchair, before taking a long drink from his glass.
"You have information… information that tells me that you must be telling the truth. You'll have to forgive me, however, if I am still… not quite able to trust you. Perhaps veritaserum will solve that little problem?"
Hadrian smiled as though he had expected this. "I assume that Severus has a supply with him? I only ask the he take an unbreakable vow not to reveal what he learns about me, should I slip into English under the influence of the potion."
Lord Voldemort nodded. "Agreed. Severus, you will administer a dosage of veritaserum to Mr. Porter." Voldemort hissed, slipping out of parseltongue mid-sentence.
Severus looked a bit startled, but easily agreed.
"Yes, my lord. I have the potion here, as you requested."
"Give him the dose." The order was given, and there was no turning back.
"Excuse me, Lavinia. If you could vacate Hadrian's lap for this?" Severus asked politely.
She pouted a bit, before standing and moving to sit in the vacant chair that had been meant for her.
Opening the crystal vial, Severus allowed three drops to fall onto Hadrian's tongue. His eyes glazed over, and he appeared to be half-asleep.
The Dark Lord approached, his hands clasped behind his back. He quirked his head to the side, staring at Hadrian as if he was a particularly interesting specimen. In parseltongue, he began his interrogation.
"What is your name?"
"Hadrian James Porter."
"What is the name that your parents gave you?"
"Harry James Potter."
"Related to James Potter?"
"Yes."
"Who's side are you on?"
"The side of magic."
"Are you my enemy?"
"Only if you make me so."
"Have you come from the future?"
"Yes and no."
"Explain."
"I have come from the year 1998. When I travelled back in time, I was warned that it could create a new dimension, or transport me to a different dimension."
"Why would you do such a thing?"
"To join you now, before you go insane."
Here, the Dark Lord paused, clearly debating what he should ask before the veritaserum wore off.
"Why do you want to join me?"
"Because you're right. You're methods are ineffective and barbaric, but our goals match."
The Dark Lord raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat offended, but didn't respond to the criticism.
"Do you believe yourself to be my equal?" he asked after a moment.
"It is not what I believe, but what prophecy dictates."
Before Voldemort could ask another question, clarity returned to Hadrian's eyes.
"I trust that you curiosity is satisfied, and that we can move on to other things?"
Slowly, the Dark Lord nodded. "Yes, I believe we can. However, our time here is limited. I believe you will be missed if you stay much longer. Do you know where the Chamber of Secrets is located?"
Hadrian nodded.
"Good. Tonight, at midnight, be waiting there."
"I will be."
Hadrian stood, stretching and cracking his neck. "Now, I believe we have some unbreakable vows to take care of?"
Severus didn't speak to them on their way back up to the castle. He appeared to be deep in thought, and every so often he would look at Hadrian, and quickly look away.
Just outside the door into Hogwarts, they paused.
Hadrian and Lavinia looked at each other, and seemed to be having a silent conversation. Finally. Lavinia nodded.
"We have a few hours until midnight. Lavinia and I want to show you something, Severus. And perhaps we can answer some of your questions."
Severus bit his lip. "Alright."
"Brilliant! Let's stop by the kitchen's and get something to eat, and we'll show you a part of the castle that even the so-called Marauder's don't know about."
Severus managed a smile at this, though he was still obviously trouble at what he had learned.
"Alright. I've never been to the kitchens before."
The trio made their way through the castle and down to the large painting of fruit bowl under the Great Hall. Tickling the pear, they entered. Severus seemed pleased to have finally discovered it's location, but even that was tempered by the knowledge that his friends were not what they appeared.
The house elves were pleased to see them, and quickly packed a basked full of food and had them on their way again. Severus noticed that Hadrian smiled at the house elves, and treated them more kindly than other wizards usually did. He wondered why.
Lavinia was enjoying a small fruit pastry as she lead the way up to the seventh floor. Hadrian was walking behind her, next to Severus. Every so often, he would look over at Severus, as if taking his measure.
Once they arrived at the seventh floor, they stopped in front of a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Severus frowned.
"What did you want to show me?"
"One moment, Severus. Lavinia, dear, if you don't mind?"
She nodded, and began pacing back and forth in front of a blank wall. For a moment, Severus thought that she had finally gone completely insane, but suddenly, a door materialized on the wall.
"What in Merlin's name…?" Severus wonder aloud, but Hadrian merely grabbed his arm and lead him through the door.
Severus gaped.
They had entered a room that was an exact replica of the Slytherin common room.
"Nicely done, Lavinia. It's what it usually looks like, when we come her to be alone, but I expect you'll feel more comfortable in a familiar environment."
Severus walked through the room, and realized with shock that even Parkinson's chess set, which he had left in front of the fireplace the previous night, was sitting on a table. It was a perfect imitation.
"But how? Why is there a second Slytherin Common room?" he asked, turning around to face the strange pair that had invaded his life.
"It doesn't always look like this, of course. It could look like, say, the Gryffindor common room." And around them the room changed, and suddenly it was red and gold and different.
"Or the Ravenclaw one." And now it was blue and bronze.
"But perhaps we should have a more comfortable location, hmm?"
And finally, the room morphed into a smaller, cozy sitting room, with two couches and an armchair in front of a roaring fire, and bookshelves lining the walled. A portrait was above the fireplace young girl in a blue dress, who smiled at them.
Harry took a seat on one of the couches, Luna sitting next to him.
"I'm sure you have questions, Severus. You can speak freely here."
Severus could barely contain his curiosity.
"Why is the Dark Lord so interested in you? And why did you need to take veritaserum? Who are you, really?"
And then something odd happened.
Harry's usual genial nature, his cheerful smile and bright eyes, disappeared. Suddenly, there was a hard look in his face, a jaded look in his eyes. And Severus wondered how much of the Hadrian he knew was a lie.
"I can't tell you everything, not before I tell the Dark Lord, that is," and Hadrian sighed, leaning back on the couch, looking old for his age, and so tired.
Lavinia pulled her legs up, sitting cross-legged on the couch, and began humming under her breath, braiding her hair over her shoulder. It didn't seem to bother her that Hadrian had changed.
"Severus… the truth is, I'm from the future. I came back in time to change history. You see, by the time I turned 17, the Dark Lord had nearly won… but at great cost. I, the fool that I was, had fought against him. Only when it was too late, did I realize the truth. That the Dark Lord would save us all."