A/n: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Hope everything works out well for you and your family. Stay safe! Not sure when Part 2 will be written by!

Winter Holidays (Part 1)

Harry twitched violently, picking up the item he stole from the pocket of his teacher those many years prior. Tom always talked about doing it in his head. He knew the words. It would be that simple. Just a couple of words and a flick. A couple of words and flick. Hate. Anger. The wish. For to cast this spell, it required more than just a simple flick. It required a wish. A real wish. A horrible wish. A wish one should never wish on another.

Not pain.

Pain was too easy.

Death.

Simple death.

Quiet death.

Tom was talking about Avada Kedavra. The killing curse.

"A WAND?" His Uncle shouted from across the room, pointing at him. "Nothing but a piece of wood!"

Harry was snapped out of his thoughts. His head turned to the side.

His face was unamused.

He smiled malevolently.

Dark circles covering beneath his eyes.

Harry also pointed at him. With his right hand. The wand hand. The wand pointed straight to Vernon's chest.

Vernon immediately took great steps towards Harry.

"Don't." Harry spoke simply, like a perfect instrument of death.

Vernon paused and laughed, before turning to face Harry again. Unperturbed by his face. "If you think for a moment your silly spell casting will alarm me, BOY, I know you can do nothing to me. You have yet to be trained. You will NEVER be trained." Vernon marched on towards Harry.

Harry smiled manically now. He was so glad he chose to not heed his warning. He licked his lips. "AVADA KEDAVRA"

The words echoed from his mouth as a flash of green spiralled out the end of his wand and blasted into his Uncle's huge chest - impossible to miss. For the first time in a long time, Vernon was off his feet. He slammed into the kitchen cupboards. His skin as pale as snow. He was a corpse.

The green eyes made their way to Petunia and Dudley, who were cowering in the corner.

Petunia did not need to move an inch to see what had become of her husband. She dared not speak a word, not even a tear - not yet. She tried to warn him before. But it did not stop the tears flowing from her eyes, running to the floor for she dared not to wipe them with Harry around. Was she crying for the loss of her husband?

They are witnesses Harry. Tom spoke with a seductive whisper, casting his bait. You have to get rid of the witnesses.

He was right. They were witnesses, they needed to be taken care of. But surely they were victims of abuse too? Well, maybe not Dudley. But Petunia. She seemed so broken by Vernon. Too timid and frail. Harry could not kill a widow and a child. It was far beyond his ability. He knew the spell would not even work itself.

Yet he had a goal. A goal he needed to reach by any means necessary. This was certainly an obstacle. A problem. Tom always had a way to deal with obstacles. They were to be dealt with and removed with any means necessary. Any means necessary.

Harry's eyes darted to the woman and the child, holding each other in the corner of the kitchen. Their eyes filled with tears and a frightened look. The youngest looked like he wanted to run.

"But we have not refined the forgetting spell. You have not taught me it." Harry warned out loud.

Petunia looked terrified, he was talking to himself. She looked all around the room and couldn't see that he was talking to anyone else. He had gone mad.

We haven't. But that is not the spell I am thinking of.

"But…" Harry stopped himself. Thinking. Wondering. Is this humane?

Do they deserve those rights?

"Yes." Harry asserted almost immediately, no hesitation.

No… They are not like us.

"I will not do it!" Harry screamed in the middle of the room.

Petunia cowered. "Please, do not do anything!" She managed to let out of her mouth. Instinctively the words came out, she could not help it.

I said DO IT!

"NO!"

YOU WILL

Harry's wand turned to face their direction.

His mouth opened.

His heart jumped in his chest, and suddenly he opened his eyes to find himself in the carriage opposite Draco. The motion of the carriage below him made him feel a little queasy. Blinded by the bright sky through the window of the carriage, his eyes slowly adjusted.

It was just a dream. A nightmare.

A horrible nightmare at that. His body felt alien in the dream. Like it was him but not really him too. A different kind of Harry. A more ruthless, evil Harry. Harry recognised the moral side, the side of him saying that this was wrong. However, he felt this force come over him, and a weak point inside of him gave up and the darkness took over.

Was evil really the correct term for this? Tom always said that there was no good and evil, but only power - and those too weak to seek it. Harry was not weak. He was determined to not be weak, and to prove it to any that dared question him.

He could even now feel this empty darkness in him, and as typical Tom was not responding when he tried talking to him. What one might attribute to a conscious telling you what is right and wrong, he felt a missing link. A pit. Yet that pit, that darkness, was listening. Harry came to grow and realise what that darkness was going to tell him, and it scared him.

Harry grew accustomed to knowing when Tom was listening. In reality he was always, but there were times that Tom was keenly interested. Like the subsequent times that Harry published follow up pieces in the Daily Prophet commending the steps the Ministry was taking. He was always keen on seeing the reactions of the Headmaster, but Dumbledore was a good poker player - never batted an eyelid. Harry would wait with bated breath, but the old man would simply close the newspaper and return to breakfast - or, more irritatingly, read something else. Tom was still not talking to him since the slip-up. Harry was starting to think it was less about the slip-up, and more on ensuring the slip-up cannot happen again - maybe Harry needed to be less reliant on Tom in times of need.

It made perfect sense for Harry to require not to be so needy of Tom. It was imperative Harry was not thinking of Tom when in the presence of people like Dumbledore, and other nasty people who would not hesitate to look into their heads when presented with such a target. Harry was a sitting duck next to them, a lame duck, an easy target. Every student in the school was - that needed to change. Harry had made a mental note to mention this to Lucius when they first had a chance of privacy, or at least not in the awkward position of an owl being intercepted. They could never be too careful. That, along with another delicate matter that Harry needed tending too. Yes, urgent business.

One thing Harry knew was on Tom's mind was the fact that he was never there for when Professor Quirrell was around. It felt strange, wrong. He did not like to be kept in the dark, in fact he was positively irritated by it.

It was time for the students to go home for the Christmas holidays, and Harry was following Draco to a place that felt most like home. Malfoy Manor.

Narcissa and Lucius were meeting the pair at the station, and they had a full day packed with things to do. Harry had written to Lucius in private the week before to tell him of something top secret and urgent problem that needed to be attended to, and they promised to have a bit of quiet time between them.

Still, getting the train back felt rather surreal. It had already been a term. A term that flew by so quickly. Yet Harry felt good, he felt productive. He accomplished a lot. Didn't he? He was beginning some small Dark Magic training, he was performing well in classes, he was popular and well known, he was doing great for a first year. Yet the only person he had not yet figured out was Quiirrell, he was mysterious. There was more to the man, he was hiding something. Surely a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher would have more hesitation about teaching Dark Magic? It seemed strange, but not completely out of the ordinary.

"Something on your mind?" Draco asked as they were about ten minutes from the station.

"Thinking through the past few months." Harry paused, and remembered. "Thanks for being a good friend."

That made Draco smile. "You too. We are good when we stick together."

"I think so." Harry laughed. "Imagine how horrible it would be if I was stuck in Gryffindor or something with Weasley."

Harry could see from the corner of his eye that Pansy was rolling her eyes. "You two, get a room." She put her arm around Harry.

"You're going to miss us Pansy, we know it." Harry continued laughing.

"Maybe. But we can still see each other over Christmas!" Pansy suggested with excitement. "I will talk to father about having you all around."

"Would be nice." Draco said from the other row of seats, squished between Crabbe and Goyle. Harry nodded in agreement.

After a few moments, they started to slow down and finally came to a stop in the station. He could see the rows of families out on the platform waiting for the students.

"Mother, Father!" Draco beamed as soon as he got out of the train, easily spotting them in exactly the same place they left him at the station three months ago. Harry quickly followed suit but did not carry the same level of enthusiasm.

"Draco!" His mother called out and immediately gave him a huge hug.

Harry was a little more reserved, and shook Lucius' hand, but Narcissa was having none of it when she hugged him right afterwards.

"Shall we head back to the Manor then?" Narcissa said after some pleasantries were done.

"That is best, we have the…" Lucius paused. "Will explain when are back. Take my hand."

The group held onto Lucius hand, and in a sudden they were all whisked away

Harry landed and immediately fell to the floor. Easily the least experienced out of all of them with apparition. Draco felt a little dizzy and managed to hold himself, but for Narcissa and Lucius it felt like nothing. Narcissa was a well trained apparitionist, and it was as second nature as walking to her.

Lucius gave the two a moment to recover before speaking. "Now, a little bit unconventional, the house elves are taking all of your luggage and we are storing it somewhere safe away from the Manor."

Harry felt alarmed in an instant, realising that all of his books, some of which were a little bit unconventional such as the ones on dark magic, were there. "But my stuff!"

"Will be fine, safe, and secure. We have plenty of clothes here for you, and any keepsakes will be completely safe. We are keeping them there for a small period of time, along with a certain collections of items we deemed necessary to keep safe and in hiding. My sources in the Ministry say that they cannot hold back the execution of a warrant to search my house for dark items, and we could not take any risks with Harry being here."

Lucius continued. "There are certain factions in the Ministry looking for a last minute attempt to resist our new reforms, and are looking for a target. The holiday period would be the perfect time for them to strike, so we must remain vigilant. Our wards have once too often found people on the cusp of entering, trying to scout."

Harry was extremely worried, this was the last thing he needed. He almost wished that he had stayed at Hogwarts, but then he realised that it would not be a barrier to them searching through Harry's things - it might even make it easier if coordinated with the Headmaster. "Do we need to learn to defend ourselves?"

"Absolutely not." Narcissa quickly reassured him. "They will not harm us, they will only use stunning spells if we strike them first. If we are able to get advanced notice of their raid, we may even be able to evacuate for a short period of time while they search."

Draco question them himself this time. "And you are sure there is nothing that could even have the slightest chance of incriminating us?"

Lucius took a deep breath and sighed. "There is nothing. I can not think of a single item, and I am not disclosing the location of our secret trove. They will come here, find nothing, and be lambasted in the papers. Now it is just a terrible waiting game. I am almost tempted to say that we should leave the country for a few days. No family should have this bearing over their heads."

Narcissa huffed. "It is awful, this waiting game. I was always on edge, ready to leave, and now the boys are home it is so much more difficult. But we could not have you in that Castle any longer."

Lucius nodded. "Now, if they ask you questions you have the legal right to refuse to answer - use it. Especially because you're underage, they can not ask you anything without a legal adult present - so do not let them. Never take anything they give you, especially veritaserum, they would never do that but one does not know for certain how desperate some people are these days. At this point they do not need a conviction, they only need to win the court of public opinion."

Harry thought about this further before sighing. He hated the idea of being locked down, and this made it unsafe to do his dark magic rituals during the night - with him being passed out. Too risky.

Harry knocked on Lucius' study later than evening, alone. When he was invited in, he opened the door before quickly closing it behind him. Lucius had been waiting to talk to Harry, ever since he received the letter asking Lucius for help and guidance.

"Is it safe to talk here?" Harry asked before taking the seat that Lucius was pointing at.

Lucius quickly waved his wand, before turning to Harry. "I got your letter, and I must say I was intrigued."

"It is a delicate matter." Harry bit his tongue, he could not believe he was confiding this much in Lucius. "There have been some questions from Professor Snape. He has been asking questions about the Muggles I used to live with, he has been looking to meet them. To talk to them."

Lucius put down his pen as Harry finished, and seemed a little confused. Although Lucius was very good at hiding this. "What issue is there with meeting them?"

Harry thought about how much he was able to trust Lucius, how much he could divulge. He quickly tried to dodge answering that specific question. "There is an issue, it is quite delicate. However, at the moment, he has not been able to find them - luckily. I am not sure how I have been quite so fortunate."

"Why are you hesitant about Severus meeting them?" Lucius asked again, noticing that Harry failed to answer the question.

"I do not know what they would say. They were horrible people, and they may try to say things to discredit me - it would not look good if they were able to talk to Professor Snape. Plus, with Snape unable to find them it makes it much worse for me." Harry spoke honestly.

Lucius gave the topic some thought, and wrote down some notes. Harry looked around the room properly for the first time, taking in the smell of the chestnut table in front of him. He thought that the bookshelves seemed a little bare, like they were missing a number of items, and Harry assumed they were items that Lucius had hidden away due to the potential raid. Interesting.

"We have a couple of options." Lucius finally said. "Actually a fair few, some more effective than others. Luckily, I am a member of the board of governors, and I consider Severus to be an old acquaintance. I could write a letter insisting that it would be best waive the search, given the circumstances, although I honestly do not know why Severus is looking for them in the first place. This seems to go beyond his remote as Head of House, this might be Dumbledore's personal bidding - in which case he may ignore. You could make me your legal guardian, in which case Snape, and by extension, Dumbledore would have no right to go looking into the affairs of private muggle citizens - although that again might not stop him."

Harry waited for Lucius to finish before questioning. "I feel like all of these options will not stop them, especially if it is outside of their remit in the first place. Also, they could claim to have stopped searching but continue anyway."

"This is true." Lucius acknowledge, slightly impressed. "The best option would be to find the muggles themselves, and then deal with them." He spoke like a perfect angel of death. "Do we have any idea where they are?"

"Oh I know exactly where they are." Harry admitted. He felt a pain in his chest. "I just do not know how much I can tell you."

"Is it really this delicate?" Lucius' eyebrow was raised, he was on the edge of his seat. He casted out his bait. "If you did not trust me, you would not be here. Especially not in my house."

"This is true…" Harry sighed to himself but he spoke no further.

Lucius waited a minute for Harry to divulge, but he waited disappointedly. He was gutted. "I have another solution, I think. We could invite Severus over to try and convince him to stop, and then place a false memory in his head, to make him believe he met them."

Harry's eyes lit up. "That sounds like the perfect plan."

Lucius sighed. "It would be, but Severus is a good Legilimens and a fantastic Occlumens. It may work perfectly, or they may sense that it is a false memory. Plus we would be doing something against a fellow wizard, would be better to just kill the muggles frankly."

His eyes were shocked. "You mean, there are few repercussions for killing muggles?"

"There are some, of course." Lucius admitted. "Not as bad as killing a wizard, but a lot easier to hide."

"I trust you." Harry finally said honestly, finally feeling settled. "Completely. I am ready to tell the full story."

Lucius tried his best to hide the wide smile.

"How about we talk about why you really invited me here, Lucius." Severus spoke, putting down the goblet he drunk his wine from.

"You know I am all for niceties, Severus. I do consider you a good friend." Lucius spoke as humbly as he was able. "But I digress. Severus, my friend, Harry and I both believe it would be best for you to not go looking into the muggles. There is nothing to find, and it is causing the boy quite some panic. You must have heard McGonagall's account of how horribly they treated him, and he has not seen them since, as you must know, so why must you continue? Harry is under my protection, and he even considered making me his guardian."

Severus was clearly surprised, taken aback. "Is this true, Harry?"

"We have discussed it." Harry said truthfully.

"Well, if you are both telling me that you have not been back to the muggles since you were with McGonagall, then you are off the hook. I will not investigate further." Severus spoke solemnly. "It will be down to the muggle authorities to find them."

"You mean there is a search party?" Harry asked flabbergasted.

"No one has seen them in months Potter, not since the Summer." Severus noted Harry's surprise. "The police have filed missing persons reports, but they have had zero luck. They could be anywhere… or nowhere."

"Anyway," Narcissa smiled to break the mood in the air. "Severus you must tell me about the first year term, how are the boys performing?"

But that did not stop Severus, he had to see them. The way Lucius was asking him not to visit the muggles, it made him want to see them even more. But he also had to see Petunia so he could extract his own revenge. He had heard the story from McGonagall. He did not even want to dream the misery they must have put him through. No son of Lily Evans should have been allowed to be treated in such an unreasonable fashion.

He saw a car in the driveway of the house, something that was never the before. There have been movements, someone is or has been here. He thought hopefully. Snape scoffed before ringing the door bell.

"Who is it?" He heard from inside the house, the sound of a woman's voice. He was surprised. Despite the car he was expecting to see the same empty house. The woman was greeted by a nasty surprise when she opened the door. "Severus the freak probably here to talk about Rosemary's baby." She laughed to herself.

The reference flew over his head. Snape placed his hand of the door, to ensure it stayed open. "Putrid, I mean Petunia. A few moments of your time." He said.

"No." She said firmly, before failing to slam the door in his face. "I will not have freaks in this house! If only Vernon was here today!" She screeched.

Severus paused before taking out his wand. "Well then, where is he?"

"He died in a car crash, in Australia, two months ago." She shouted at him, pain in her voice. She said it almost instinctively, so immediately it felt like a reflex.

He looked deep into her eyes, and she could feel him taking hold of her. Searching through every memory, finding fear, torment, and abuse. He could see clearly through eyes what they must have done to Harry, the misery they would have inflicted on him, the pain. How they hated him for nothing, for no reason. It was not even jealousy, it had moulded into something else. He looked upon the thoughts, the evil, and he said no more. He cared not search any further, he saw everything he needed to see. No more.

"Well… Prepare to be reunited." Severus pointed the wand directly at her.

"The search is over then, Severus." Dumbledore sighed. "For now. I see no reason why our time is to be occupied with such trifle matters, and I want the boy to trust you. If he knows something, which seems unlikely now, then he will clearly not tell us, and we have no other leads. You have already scoured the house?"

"Yes, Headmaster." Severus lied, but he spoke frankly. "They could be on the other side of the world for all I know, and I see no reason for us to continue this silly chase. Harry clearly has a troubled past, but not of his own doing. I could not even bare to bring myself to look at the cupboard under the stairs."

"McGonagall said much the same." He sighed, before burying his hands in his face. "Then we leave it to the muggle authorities. Coincidences do happen. I'm busy enough trying to block this raid at the Malfoy Manor. I can not imagine what they expect to find, any incriminating items are long gone. Arthur Weasley is doing all he can to stop the raid."

"But you have to stop it Dumbledore. This will make the Malfoy's look like victims." Severus protested. "Martyrs, and with a guilty system trying to suppress them. The Ministry will capitulate with zero credibility."

"If I am disposed of, Severus, you know I want you to take over, absolutely." Dumbledore reminded him.

"Headmaster, if they fire you they certainly will not allow you to pick a replacement." Severus said angrily. "And certainly not pick a member of your rank and file. It will be a pencil pusher, with an agenda, and a lust for power, straight from the Ministry. It will be long yet before they convince parents of children at this school to replace you."

Dumbledore sighed with a little bit of hope. "You said you had some bad news?"

"Potter, again, he is thinking of making Lucius his guardian." Severus spoke plainly

Dumbledore slammed his hands on the table, the first time Severus has ever seen this. "Those twisted trolls!"

A/N; Did Vernon die in a car crash? I think there is a lot more to this story. And would Severus really kill Petunia? Like/review/follow :)