In 1986, Harry meets his first friend, a tiny green snake. That friend will change everything. - A retelling of canon with a darker, smarter, more cunning Harry in possession of a pet snake and a sense of self-worth. Some reworked canon scenes in the beginning but original scenes will be frequent. Dark! Smart! Independent! Harry; Eventual Drarry (SLASH), VERY slow developing.

Two boys grow up together in an orphanage, grow powerful at school, are torn apart by death and brought back together by rebirth. Horcruxes aren't the only way to live forever. Necromancy, reincarnation, TR/HP Slash dark!Harry.

Warnings Inside. Dumbledore ought to have known better than to leave an orphaned Harry Potter in the hands of the Dursleys. A twist of fate has the boy-who-lived living with criminals. Sly, cunning, street-smart, sorted into Slytherin where his housemates have been raised to hate him, will Harry survive? Or maybe it's the House of Snakes that doesn't stand a chance.

With one question posed to the Sorting Hat, Harry Potter's life changes completely.