Summary: By going back in time and rising Tom Marvolo Riddle, Harry Potter hopes that this shall he enough to prevent the rising of Lord Voldemort.
Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me, the credit goes to JK Rowling . The idea on which the story is based is not originally mine either.
Note: English is not my main language so please exuse any posible mistakes.
Chapter 3.
As soon as the boy accepted to come with him, leaving the orphanage proved to be ridiculous easy
Using a bit of Transfiguration, at which point Tom watched fascinated, Harry made the adoption papers and carefully signed them. No one but another wizard would know that the papers were false, and another wizard would not even concern himself with such matters.
He was not sure how to proceed from there. Tom was obviously hurt and until they were out of the orphanage, he could not heal the boy without raising the Matron's suspicion. Clearing his throat, he raised his eyes from the papers and gesturing with his unoccupied hand to the boy, asked.
"Can you walk with those wounds or shall I carry you?" The glare he received from the boy made him smile in amusement. It disappeared pretty quick as he remembered that he was the same at the boy's age. He didn't want anyone to see him as weak or to be dependent on anybody.
"I can walk, Mister Slytherin. There is no need for you to carry me."
The boy preceded to throw the covers off himself. Harry noticed that he was wearing a pair of worn out blue pajamas and made a note to take the boy shopping for some new ones, and a lot of other things while at it. He quickly rose to his feet to help the young one stand when he saw the grimace covering Tom's face. The boy glared at him again but resigned himself to Harry's administrations.
As soon as Tom was sitting on the edge of the bed Harry looked around the room for some clothes. Not seeing a wardrobe, he asked.
"Where are your clothes, Tom? We can't leave with you wearing this."
Looking down, seemingly finding the cracks in the floor fascinating, Tom answered in a small voice.
"There is a trunk under the bed. It's where I keep all of my things."
Kneeling near the bed and dragging the small trunk out, Harry made sure to keep his voice light and said.
"There is no need for you to feel ashamed of this, Tom. Someday I will tell you my story. For many years, I lived just like you, you know. I didn't have many possessions either and what I did have were hands me down from my cousin."
"Really? But you look so..." The boy gestured with his hands towards Harry's body.
Harry laughed.
" I shall tell you more later, when we get home. Needless to say, my parents left me quite a fortune."
Selecting a pair of black pants and a not-so-white sweatshirt from the trunk, Harry proceeded to help the boy change.
He was more than horrified at the lashes marking the boy's back, pity and fury were having a war inside his heart, but he said nothing. The boy was embarrassed enough as it is. He didn't need Harry adding more fuel.
Finishing with the changing, Harry helped the boy to his feet then let him go to put the rest of the clothes into the trunk. Closing it, he shrinked it and put it in his pocket. Looking at the boy, who seemed a little pale, he asked.
"Anything else you wish to take with you?"
The boy gazed around the room until his eyes found the black notebook, the one which Harry used to demonstrate his magic. Moving towards it, he took the item in his hands, clinging it to his chest like it was something precious.
Satisfied, the boy nodded and said.
"This is all I need. We can go now."
Holding out a hand, Harry waited until he felt a small one hesitantly taking it, and then slowly moved towards the door, opening it. He stopped when he felt a little resistance and glanced back.
Tom was looking around the room with a strange intensity. When those green eyes glanced back towards his own, Harry could feel his heart break. Those eyes were too old for a boy as young as he.
"I'm happy to leave here. It was hell, you know. I always tried to be on my best behavior but strange things seemed to happen all the time around me. The Matron didn't let the other children talk or play with me, she kept saying I was possessed. Little Devil she calls me." Tom shook his head and moved out of the room, tugging at Harry's hand "It doesn't matter. Let's go now."
Harry swallowed and said nothing, even if he could feel his eyes stinging. Giving a small squeeze to the hand currently resting in his own, they walked down the stairs and towards the Matron's office.
Stopping in front of the closed door, Harry looked down at the boy and said.
"Perhaps you wish to stay and wait here, Tom? Coming in with me is not necessary. I can deal with the Matron quickly, and after I give her the papers, we are ready to leave."
The boy seemed to consider and then nodded, letting go of his hand.
Giving the child a small smile, Harry steeled himself for the upcoming confrontation and stepped in, closing the door after himself.
The object of his current disgust and hatred was sitting quietly at her desk, apparently writing something. When the woman noticed him, she smiled and prepared to rise, if not for a sharp.
"Sit down, Madam."
Sensing the danger, the woman allowed herself to fall back from her half-rosed position, and opened her mouth to speak.
"Mister Slytherin, finished your discussion with Tom, I see. The child is a very bright young lad, don't you agree?"
Stalking towards the desk, Harry put his palms on the table and leaned in towards the woman. He did not raise his voice but his tone was harsh and cold as ice when he said.
"I quite agree. He is a very intelligent child. However, you, Madame...you are disgrace to the human race. The wounds on the boy's body certainly prove so."
A look of feigned innocence on her face, the Matron leaned back aganst the chair and replied.
"Mister Slytherin, I do not know what lies that boy told you. I would never do anything to hurt any of the children in my care. "
Harry cocked his head to the side,smiled grimly and allowing all of his loathing to be visible in his eyes. He snarled.
"Ah, but you don't see him as a child, do you? For you, he is the Devil reincarnate, someone who needs beatings regularly just so he won't get worse." He brought a first down the desk, producing a loud bang.
The woman jumped.
"Listen well, Madame. I do not care in any way for your explanations." He took the adoption papers from his Jacket pockets and handed them to the woman. "I have here all I need to take Tom from your "well-meant" hands. You shall take them, sign them, and we shall be on our way. You do this and I won't press charges against you."
Harry was not going to bring up the spell he already cast. The woman would not have a good night sleep for many years to come. It was a nasty curse that would make her feel, in dreams, all the pain and suffering Tom received at her hands.
It was not enough in Harry's opinion. She deserved worse.
Proving that she wasn't a complete idiot, the woman proceeded to sign the papers with a shaky hand. Raising fearfully eyes towards him, she hesitantly handed them over.
Satisfied, Harry nodded and, without saying another word. He turned and walked out. His hearing picked a barely audible sigh of relief from the matron, and he smiled in grim amusement.
Tom was sitting on the floor and, when he saw him exit the Matron's office, shoot him a questioning glance. Harry winked and nodded.
That was the first time he received a smile from Tom Riddle. The boy's eyes seemed to sparkle and Harry could not help but laugh.
"It's done. We can leave now." He helped the boy to his feet and, together, they left the orphanage.
They walked in comfortable silence until Harry noticed a good Apparition spot. Tugging Tom in that direction, they entered a small dark alley. The child's eye instantly became frighten, and Harry hurried to explain before the boy bolted.
"My home" he paused, correcting himself "Our home is pretty far from here. We have to Apparate at the end of the house's wards. Apparition is the magical method of teleportation. I warn you now that it will feel like you are being forced through a very tight rubber tube, and you'll probably get sick too since it's your first time Apparating. Don't worry, it will pass quickly since it takes only a second to get there. Now, please hold onto me, so I don't lose you on the road somewhere."
The young one instantly calmed and moved to put his arm around him. Harry allowed himself to do the same and, tightering his hold, they disappeared with a barely audible crack.
Harry was 22 when he decided to travel back in time. The war was still raging but the Light side was obviously losing. Most of the people inside the Order of Phoneix were either dead or dying. Ron Weasly, Hermione Granger, Headmaster Dumbledore and Remus Lupin being among the deceased. Harry blamed himself for the lost of theyr lives, even if he logically knew it had not been his fault.
Finding the time-traveling spell in a small crack inside a wall of The Chamber of Secrets, Harry took a gamble. What is life without risks anyway? It was not a light spell, not that Harry cared. He was past caring for a lot of things at that point. The spell required the user to give away his existence, his rightfully place in the universe. A second Harry Potter would not came to be born to Lily Evans and James Potter when the time came. If the time came. Who knows how much the timeline will change.
Harry made plans. A lot of plans.
The first thing he did before leaving was to extract all of his money from Gringots Bank. The Goblins had not been pleased. The second thing had been the writing of his will. It was a necessary precaution in case something went wrong with the spell, and he died wile performing it.
After that, he gathered all of his posesions, including the Marauders Map, into a trunk and, without saying a word of goodbye to anybody, since he did not have any loved ones anymore, he simply performed the spell and left.
As soon as he woke up into a forest, with a splitting headache he may add, he Apparated to Diagon Alley where he entered the first Estate Agency in his way, and began looking for a house.
He found one for his tastes soon enough. It was located at the far end of Hogsmeade, far enough for the noise not to become disturbing. It was a nice piece of land, the trees surrounding the area providing all the discretion Harry needed for his daily backyard sparring.
The house itself was big enough for what he needed. A two-story house with four bedrooms, one office, a spacious dinning room and kitchen plus the attic and basement. To be honest, Harry was surprised. It was very...modern. He concluded that the previous owner must have been a muggleborn. It was only half-furnished but Harry left it at that until the second person for which it was brought, would come and live in the house.
The wards surrounding the propriety were pitifully at best. It took him half a day to make new ones, adding some Anti-Aparition one's wile at it.
Those wards trembled when they felt the approaching magic, but Harry made sure that his arriving location was not close enough for the wards to do harm to either, him or the child. Landing on his feet, he moved out of the way for Tom to fall on his knees and puke. Grimacing, Harry rubbed the small boy's back and muttered a banishing spell for the mess.
Seeing how sweaty and pale the child was, Harry gathered the small form in his arms, despite the boy's barely audible protests, and moved towards the house. Opening the door with one hand, his other being occupied by the child, Harry made his way towards one of the bedrooms and gently lowered the boy on the bed.
Tom seemed half asleep and Harry really didn't wish to disturb him, but it was necessary. He needed to heal the boy, and that could not wait. Running a hand through the child's hair and shaking the young one gently, Harry whispered.
"Tom, come now, child. Let's get these clothes off, and after I heal your wounds you can go to sleep ok?"
Tom murmured something and turned his back on him. Harry could not help but shake his head and smile at the site. Very well...he could do it himself.
Carefully maneuvering the small body, Harry got rid of the boy's sweatshirt and pants and turned him on his stomach. Cursing that foolish woman again, he gently put his palms on the boy's back and allowed his magic to enter the small body and heal. After watching the wounds close, the skin regaining it's healthy complexion, Harry turned the boy onto his back and put his fingers onto the bruise around the child's eye, allowing his magic to do the same as before.
Finishing, he took the boy's old clothes and transfigured them into a pair of green shorts and a matching t-shirt. Dressing the child into those, he carefully placed the small body under the covers, gently arranging them around the child's form.
He sat on the side of the bed for a few moments, looking down at the boy and thinking.
Tom Riddle was nothing like he was expecting him to be. From Dumbledore memories, Harry was expecting a manipulative, cold little bastard where this child was just lonely and hurt. It sharply remained Harry of himself, and that scared him a little. Who was he kidding? It scared him a lot. Because he knew he could not help but became attached very soon, and he was not sure how handle that. Logically, Harry knew that Tom was not Voldemort yet, hopefully he will never be. He did not comit all those horrid crimes. The boy was innocent and yet, the thought that somewhere in that small, wounded body, the child had all he needed to become a feared Dark Lord, well...that still made Harry to hate him a little.
Shaking his head Harry smiled grimly. He would never forget the future and how bleak it was, but perhaps he should just try and live into the present. Instead of all the Wizarding world depending on him, now he had just one child.
He would make sure not to disappoint.
Placing a kiss on the boy's forehead, Harry got up and moved out of the room. The child would need food when he woke up.