Tom Riddle was standing out of Riddle Manor, silently musing while looking at the clear sky, full of stars, how could his life become any better. He was classified as Lord Voldemort, the most powerful Dark Lord in history, with half of England literally chasing him down, and the most feared person of many people around the world, but yet Tom couldn't help himself from smiling while gazing at the stars.

No, his life really couldn't get any better.

And when you knew that all of this had begun from a failure.

His greatest and only failure, the attack of the Potter household.

That night, he had, from Worltail, this absolutely disgusting and filthy piece of rat, been givens on a silver plate the secret of the fidellius charm hiding the Potter Family. It was great, really ! Both Potter parents were on a reunion from the Order, a disgraceful organization from the Old Wanker, Dumbledore. It was just too good to be true, so within a minute, the Dark Lord was standing in front of the two Potter babies.

After all, the prophecy said he had to kill them.

That's when the plan went wrong. A second later, battle cries were heard coming from downstairs, and it didn't take long to understand that Wormtail, the believed traitor of the light, was in reality a spy for the light.

And this had been a trap.

Voldemort lacked time, he needed to apparate, and quick ! In a swift motion of hand, he threw an Avaka Kadavra to the Potter Babies, touching the first child, and almost as quickly as thrown, the curse went back to him. He dodged it, knowing perfectly well what just happened.

Bloody blood wards !

He apparated back into his manor, fuming. The first order he yelled was to give him Wormtail, but the rat had already flew away, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of the Parseltongue user. His Death Eaters clearly remembered that night, too.

He had crucio'd every single person on his way.

The next day, he had been surprised. Like really surprised. After all, he didn't believe a single second that the Potters would be THAT stupid. Severus came quickly to him, telling him that a strange scar had appeared on one of the Potters' boy, John, and that the rest of the Order, and now the entirety of Britain according to the Daily Prophet, believed that John Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, killed Voldemort. Tom's horrible mood disappeared instantly : he was believed dead ! It was the perfect occasion, they would finally leave him alone for once ! He had new plans.

For four perfect years, Voldemort had worked in the shadows, establishing connections in the whole world, making a lot of money from every business he could understand, and he was quickly grabbing more and more blackmail materials from very important people.

And then, Snape came to him, again, concerning the Potters.

He just found that they have abandoned their second son, Harry, into the household of Lily Potter's sister, Petunia Dursley.

It was another golden occasion that the Slytherin Heir had to take, that's why he found himself leaving a single second later.

Flashback :

Tom knocked on the door, smiling slightly. The dursleys weren't even protected by a single ward, proving even more that Dumbledore was either insane, either stupid.

Probably both.

He didn't have to wait for long, before a fat man with a mustache opened the door, with a noise of effort. Just by looking at his stomach, Tom deduced that the effort was moving his body. He just, at the moment, despised the muggles even more, but hided it under his Occlumency shields.

Of course, Vernon looked surprised to see a man so well-dressed, very handsome, and obviously rich at his door. His eyes shined with greed, and without both of the men speaking a word, he decided that he would not that man go easily.

"Hello, I am Vernon Dursley. What can I do for you ?" Asked the man with a sickening sweet voice. Tom almost grabbed the wand in his pocket, but stopped himself from crucioing the man to death.

He could do that later.

"Hello, my name is Tom Riddle. A... friend of mine, told me that you had a nephew living here, by the name of Harry Potter. I would like to... 'See him'." Said the Dark Lord, preparing himself to be left behind with a closed door. But the Dursley did none of that : his face turned into an horrible shade of purple, and barked with a voice that contained so much hate that Tom could only blink :

"You want to see the freak ? I prevent you, he is a young delinquent and a problem !"

Riddle was in heaven. Was his task really going to be so easy ?

"Yes, I know that... That's why I want to have a... rather interesting 'discussion' with him." Replied smoothly the man, winking. The face of Vernon lit up in realization, before a smile as fat as his cheeks appeared on his face. A disgusting chuckle escaped his throat, and Tom prayed that he could slaughter that pig just now.

"Sure, come in ! I'll get him, and we can talk !"

He completely opened the door, and the Dark Lord stepped in, a smile on his face. He didn't know why people kept being happy of their efforts : no, easy win were always the best. He followed the whale to his living room, where what he could guess were his wife and son siting, in front of the TV. The boy was fat, too, but it wasn't something really surprising for the newcomer. The woman was dressed in an disheartening pink dress, and for a brief second Tom wondered if she was the daughter of Dumbledore. He was the only known man to have similar disgusting clothes.

The eyes of both Dursley widened when they looked at the man. He was handsome, and Petunia Dursley got wet just by watching him. He looked like he was a model or a top actor coming right from Hollywood, and his obviously expensive clothes only made him better. She quickly got up, welcoming the man with a slight bow of respect.

"Hello and welcome in my humble home, good sir. Anything you would like ?" She asked, and Tom had never used his Occlumency shields as hard, just to prevent himself from killing her. Even in front of Dumbledore, he didn't have to be so restrictive of himself !

"No, it should be fine. I only came here because I have some really serious business with your nephew. May I... Borrow him for a brief moment ?" He said, looking directly into the eyes of the woman. Her expression changed into one of fury.

"Yes, of course ! I hope what he did wasn't really important, he's just a overconfident brat and a delinquent !"

"Yes, I may have heard that by your fine husband. I could, if you want... Get rid of him ?"

They suddenly looked hopeful, and the man yelled.

"BOY ! COME HERE RIGHT NOW !"

Tom heard some noise coming from the corridor, and within seconds, a boy appeared. He was short, too short for his age (even if a, what, five years old kid was really small.), but it wasn't the main details about him.

The one that stopped Tom, above anything else, was his massive cut on his left eye. His eye was close, but he didn't need to be a healer to know perfectly well that the boy only had a single eye left. His right one was brightening in a piercing emerald green that reminded the Dark Lord too much of his own Avaka Kedavra. His hair were black, a visibly common trait with the Potters. Just by looking at his face, he saw a fresh cut still on his left cheek, and a single drop of blood sliding over his jaw told the Lord that it was just fresh. His clothes were rags, and by the look of pieces of his body, not hidden by clothes, he didn't eat much. Tom would say more : he was starving.

In a swift act, Vernon grabbed an empty glass bottle of beer, and threw it on the boy. Tom saw the contentment in the eye of the victim, who didn't even try to dodge the projectile, and just waited for the bottle to crack on his forehead. A cut started slightly bleeding, but the boy didn't even move his hand to wipe the blood, deciding to let it slide all over his face, and on his already missing eye.

Tom was fuming. He expected a rude brat, the very copy of James Potter : instead, he was in front of a downed creature, a disabled child, bullied and starved, and the Lord felt sick. Sick, because, many years ago, Tom Marvolo Riddle, young orphan, was the same.

There was a huge difference between an easy win and an execution. And if he killed the boy, he would just end the sufferings of a kid who was left behind to die. His thought broke when Vernon used his voice :

"Boy ! This fine, upstanding member of society wants to speak to you !" He yelled in an arrogant way, and Tom found himself comparing the man with Lucius Malfoy. Their comportement was alike, but one was a pureblood and the other was a filthy muggle.

"Yes, I would like to speak to you. Could we have a private room, so we can talk ?" Asked Riddle to the other man, who nodded, and pointed to the kitchen. Harry Potter didn't wait for any instructions, before going in the room, and the Dark Lord followed him. He closed the door behind him, and with a swift motion of hand, cast an anti-hearing spell on the door and the room.

He had things to ask.

He looked at the boy, who was standing not too far from him, and Tom could only once again compare him to an animal who knew he was trapped, and would die. While he seemed confuse about the wand Tom was holding, he asked nothing, resigned to take a beating.

And the man almost felt that the young Potter knew he wasn't just going to get hurt, but die as well.

"So, what is your name, boy ?" He asked, his eyes narrowed, trying to intimidate the boy. At the moment, Harry didn't look the less scared, and just shrugged.

"Freak." He answered. Tom's eyes widened, before speaking.

"Freak ? Why do you believe that ?"

"Boy and Freak are the only names Vernon uses for me. Boy is a gender, so I guess my name is Freak."

Tom must have begun losing controls of his emotions, because magic flowed all around him. Curiously, the eyes of the boy widened, acknowledging the power. Yes, he probably already had accidental magic uses.

"When you are about to die, Boy, you are not supposed to shrug it off like it was nothing. Kids are not even supposed to understand what Death is before the age of six, and you are five." Added Tom, fully expecting Potter to ask what die and death were, and how did he know his age. But he did nothing of that.

"Petunia told Dudley men go to Heaven when they die. I want to go to Heaven. And I am smarter than them."

Riddle softly chuckled at that innocent and child-like reply. He had already been in more pain than any man will be in his entire life, but it didn't matter.

"Get your shirt off."

Harry didn't wait, and immediately took it off, displaying so many scars that it was a miracle the boy was not dead. Judging by the fact that Tom felt an already strong magic from the boy, the obvious answer was that his magic allowed himself to sustain the damage of his body.

"Other scars anywhere ?"

"Legs."

Tom nodded, he didn't except any less from the muggles. He found himself gazing into the eye of the child, wondering for a second how he would find the bravery to kill an already so damaged boy. It was disgusting, even for him. Suddenly, something came on his mind.

This child, and him. They were so alike.

He could remember the day where he would get bullied at the orphanage, beaten, again and again, until the other kids were bored. No, Harry's situation was worse, he would be dead before his seventh's birthday, give or take. An idea crossed his mind, and he looked at the boy once again.

"Do you know your family ?"

"I know that I had a brother and two parents. Apparently, I wasn't good enough, so they kicked me out a sent me to live here. I am a failure."

This made Tom fume again. The Potters really were idiots !

"Would you like to have a family ?"

Harry looked at him closely, and if the Dark Lord didn't know he was only a child and not a treat, he would be thinking he was performing legilimency on him.

"This home is my family. But I don't like it." He just answered, and Riddle suppressed a sigh. For a smart kid, he was terribly dense.

"I mean, do you want a new family ?"

Harry's eyes widened, and Tom could feel his surprise and hope. Himself, he had been wanting to hear these words so many times at the orphanage.

"How can I get a new family ?" He asked sincerely, and at this very moment, Riddle knew he would never be able to kill the child.

"I can be your family." He simply answered softly.

"I'd like it, sir." Concluded Harry. They looked at each others in contentment, and the silence that followed was comfortable. The child, as the man, never knew what a hug was, so it wasn't something they were both okay with. Their silence and eye locking was much more, and the warmth of their mental embrace was enough for both of them. Slowly, Tom went to Harry, kneeled, and hugged the boy. The kid shivered under the unusual touch, and the fact that he was probably still bruised, but he put both of his arms around the waist of his new family. The Dark Lord chuckled : the arms of the boy were so smalls, he didn't even reach half of his waist. But it was cute, and it was giving him a new feeling of warmth in his heart. He had been damaged by the orphanage, and Harry had been damaged by his relatives.

Now, it was time for both of them to heal, and each others were the key.

Tom got up, and put the shirt Harry had taken off on the kid again.

"The second we leave this place, I'll get you new clothes, and we'll heal those scars, including your eye. I'll adopt you in the magical way, and I'll explain everything you want to know."

The eyes of the kid lit up, and Tom laughed at how he bit his lip in excitement when he heard "magical".

"But first, you need a new name. Just in case you want to know, your true name is Harry."

"It's weird."

Tom laughed again, and in barely a minute, he had laughed more than in so many years. It was weird, but welcomed.

"Yes, I agree. What do you think about something, more... I know, Hadrian !" He said, and for a second, he wanted to scowl himself. He was acting like a kid, if any of his Death Eaters saw him like that, they would say that his sanity definitely disappeared for all.

"I like it." Quietly said Hadrian, his eye soft and expressive.

"Hadrian it is then. My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, but you can just call me Dad I guess." He said with a somewhat confused expression : he was new to this.

"Ok, Dad." Hadrian smiled as brightly as the sun, and Tom knew he had made the right decision.

"Now, let's go and see those monsters that the world dared call your relatives." Finished the father with a grin, and to his excitement, Hadrian grinned too.

Screams had never been so beautiful to his ears. And he had never been more proud when he realized Hadrian liked it, too.

End Flashback :

Tom sighed. When he looked back at the events, he couldn't find any sense in his actions. He had never felt mercy to anyone, even his parents or inner circle Death Eaters.

But Tom had felt, when he met the boy, that he would be his greatest achievement. That both of them were almost the same person, but many years later. They both had been abandoned, damaged, and hated with a passion by everyone around them.

He thought that maybe, Hadrian was the key. And he had never been more right.

Hadran was already well acquainted with all of the members of the inner Death Eaters. However, he never met a single other Death Eater, or even one of the children of anyone.

But it wasn't Tom's decision. He had tried, when Hadrian was younger, to make the boy know someone, namely Draco Malfoy. Apparently, Hadrian had escaped the Malfoy in a splendid single minute. When Tom asked his son why, he shrugged, and answered : "He's a fool and an idiot. I'd rather talk Dark Arts with Bella a whole day rather than talking to him a single second."

Tom had agreed easily : he knew he was too soft as a father, but he frankly thought he had made a good job rising his son.

"Yo, Dad. I was searching for you." Said a voice behind Tom, a voice that immediately made him smile. He turned his head, only to see a dark haired boy speaking with a smile. When the older Riddle blood-adopter the boy, Hadrian hadn't changed much of his appearance : His hair had remained black, and it was hiding his left eye, where the scar was. While Goblins managed to save the eye, they couldn't make the scar disappear. His right and normal eye switched from an emerald green to a cyan blue, but it kept its brightness and Tom had to said he liked it. However, his other eye, due to the rituals to make it work again, had stopped the blood-ritual to interfere with its color. It had remained green, much to the shame of the boy. His father had said he looked really beautiful, with a blue and green eye, but the kid didn't like it, so hided it with his hair. His lips weren't as red as before, and his skin was much paler.

The child was nothing if beautiful.

"Hey Hadrian, something you wanted to ask me ?" Asked Tom, a small on his face. The boy just smirked, sitting next to his father.

"Nah. But, you know, since I'm leaving for Hogwarts tomorrow, I thought I should enjoy my last night with you."

Tom's heart clenched at that statement. He was very reluctant in letting his son leave toward Hogwarts, the main reason being Dumbledore, and the danger of the other students or light families.

"Hey, Dad, don't freak out. Honestly, do you have so little faith in me ?"

"I trust you as I trust myself, Hadrian, you know what that means."

"Exactly. Don't you worry, I'll take over Slytherin by the end of the year."

Tom grinned. That was something he had already a bet on with Lucius. He said his son would have taken over Slytherin by the end of first year, while Lucius said the second.

"And after Slytherin ?" Asked the father.

"The school. Before third year, I'd say, considering it should take a full year only to get to the Gryffs'." He answered with an absolute smug face. Tom couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sure you will. However, you have another task : get an Harem." He teased. That was the second bet Tom made, with Bellatrix. He said he would end up with at least five girlfriends at the same time, while Bella said many more than ten.

"Dad ! It would slow down my rise to power, I don't have time for girls !" He blushed, making the older man laugh again.

"Do me a favor, Hadrian, and get some good girls. You'll enjoy your time much more, and it's a direct tip from your old man !"

"Don't you dare talk to me about that bullshit ! You were, and still are, a total loner !"

"You don't have to react like that, Hadrian... After all, I won't judge you if you are into boys..."

And as the black-haired boy ranted about how he wasn't gay, Tom burst into another fit of laughter.

Yes, he never once regretted his actions toward the boy, and was the proudest father a man could be.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"What do you mean, he was not here !"

"Lily, calm down !"

"No, no, I agree with Lily ! Where IS Harry you disgraceful piece of shit !"

Dumbledore was standing in front of James Potter, John Potter, and two very angry Sirius Black and Lily Potter. John looked incredibly bored : after all, he was the only son his parents and godfather needed !

"Listen, Lily. Padfoot. I wanted to easy your pain with lies, and I excuse myself. But the facts are here, Hadrian disappeared a long time ago..."

"You said he was with my sister to keep him safe ! You said he needed to be protected because John would be dangerous, learning magic before school !" And, Lily didn't say it out loud, but John was nearly a squib. He was fat, ate way too much, had a head as big as his stomach and no care for any virtue. "You said that Hagrid helped him buy his furnitures ! That he was a young man in perfect health, that I could see him ! Instead... My sister and her husband are in an asylum because they lost their sanity, their son was killed, and MY son disappeared ?! You have to be fucking kidding me !" Lily swore, and that was a sign that she was really angry. Padfoot was nodding frenetically, but James and Dumbledore looked as if nothing happened.

"Lily ! Calm down ! Why would we need Harry, we still have John ! He's the Boy-Who-Lived, after all !" Said James, as if it was obvious.

"Yes, mum ! Who do you need more than me !" Added John.

For a second, Lily saw red. The next, she was out of the office, Sirius behind her. She had been stupid, and had given her trust and her heat to the biggest idiots she had ever seen. With the years, her husband and her son had become idiots, and she was paying the price.

She would find her baby child : after all, she was now a lone woman with no child but the one she lost years ago.

It was time to use some of her Slytherin side that the Hat wanted to put her in.