Hello there, Name's Kaemisa, pleased to meet you.

I just wanted to clarify a few things before starting the story. Firstly, I am neither English, nor American, so except a lot of errors and faults in the entire story. Secondly, my story will probably be utter shit : I merely am trying to build a little fort in the immense Sandbox that is Harry Potter. If you don't like the story, don't worry, just search the most liked ones and you will find three meters long castles.

Reviews are appreciated, to correct my errors that I will edit or just to leave your opinion and give suggestions. However, don't be an ass. I am trying to have fun, so try to as well : If you don't like the story, or find that it is shit (which is true, so no need to tell me !), you can just leave and forget it existed in the first place.

But I still hope you'll enjoy. Have a nice day.

Tom Riddle was standing outside of Riddle Manor, silently musing while looking at the clear sky, full of stars, about 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 wanting him dead, and the most feared person for 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 Wormtail, this absolutely disgusting and filthy piece of rat, been given on a silver plate the secret of the Fidelius charm hiding the Potter Family. It was great, really ! Both Potter parents were on a reunion from the Order, a disgraceful organization from the senile 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. He knew that he had to kill them, but he couldn't force himself to do it. To the people of the wizarding world, newborns were a gift from Mother magic, an innocent life that would grow into a wizard, or a witch.

He took too much time staring at the asleep babies, wondering if what he was doing was really what the prophecy implied. But, in the end, he resigned himself : 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.

His lack of motivation, and his rush into his movement had made the curse not powerful enough to break wards : blood wards that had been placed to protect the babies.

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. Voldemort had been furious ; not only did he try to do an act forbidden by Mother magic, but he had failed !

Tom wasn't the cruel dark lord everyone thought he was. Yes, there had been a time where he had wanted to kill, blinded by his envy of creating an Horcrux, but it disappeared when he understood the possible backlash of creating said Horcrux : slowly losing his sanity. The lord was smart, and he knew perfectly that a war wasn't won only by force. After acing his Hogwarts studies, there was just no way that he would become a grunt. losing his mind was far too much of a price to pay. He wanted to change Britain, not rule 200 hundred people while the rest of the country was buried 6 feet under the ground.

The next day, he had been surprised. More 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 the Order believed, by a pile of ash and the proof that a curse had been used on the wards, on one of the Potters' boy, John, believed that John Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, had killed Voldemort. How could the greatest Dark Lord in history be defeated by a ward was the man's question. But it turned out that the british population believed it. They had been scared, fed by the false informations that the Death Eaters only were a bunch of murderers, and had taken the death of their leader like a granted win. Tom's horrible mood disappeared instantly : he was now known as dead ! It was the perfect occasion, they would finally leave him alone for once ! He could put new plans into motion.

For four perfect years, Voldemort had worked in the shadows, establishing connections in the entire 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 abandoned their second son, Harry, into the household of Lily Potter's sister, Petunia Dursley. Blinded by the fame their second son had given them, the couple had left one of their kid with a family branch of the Evans'.

It was another golden occasion that the Slytherin Heir had to take, and that was why he found himself leaving a single second later. He had to see it by himself.

Flashback :

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

Probably both. Or maybe they really thought he was dead ...?

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

Tom didn't hate all muggles. Just most of them. He knew that amongst them, there were a lot of smart and intelligent beings that deserved to achieve greatness in their world. But most muggles weren't like that, and the man was influenced by his past to hate those kind of people.

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 let 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 that 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 wins 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 almost started drooling just from watching him. He looked like 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. An horrible made one, obviously, but she tried.

"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 ?" said Tom. He knew that those muggles would immediately give him the child on a golden plate if he implied that he was going to kill him. Even if he still wondered if he could really do it.

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 detail that stopped Tom, above anything else, was his massive cut on his left eye. His eye was closed, 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 from the Black family, that had been inherited by James Potter after his father had married Dorea Black. Just by looking at his face, he saw a cut 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. The Dark Lord didn't know by what miracle did the boy managed not to faint, dive on the ground, or even fall, because he just let the bottle crash on his forehead, standing still as if nothing happened. A new 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 felt a spark of anger flare into his very soul. 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. The lord had manners : to the magical world, the lives of children were precious. Every birth was a miracle of Mother magic, and while Tom was in no place to talk about child sparing, with his attempt to kill the Potters' boys years ago, it had been a disgusting act that he never hoped to achieve again. but know, he just felt sick, because, many years ago, Tom Marvolo Riddle, young orphan, was the same. A downed child, accepting his fate as if pain was his middle name.

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 where stopped 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 Fudge. Their comportment was very similar, but while both were fools, 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 many 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 not escape. While he seemed confused about the wand Tom was holding, he asked nothing, resigned to take another punishment.

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 kid. 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 common word, so I guess my name is Freak."

Tom must have lost control of his emotions, because magic starting flowing all around him. Curiously, the eyes of the boy widened, acknowledging the power. The kid must had started to have accidental acts of magic, and was definitely surprised to see the man have the same ability than him, but on top of that, could control it.

"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 he knew 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 : if they kill me, they don't go to heaven, so I will be without them."

Riddle softly chuckled at that innocent and child-like reply. He was surprised that the kid could use so many different words, but he knew how to recognize a smart one. Harry had already been in more pain than most men could be in his entire life, but it didn't matter to him.

"Get your shirt off."

Harry didn't wait, used to being ordered around, 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 done to 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 ?"

Tom thought about all the time he waited in his room for someone to come and save him from the orphanage. To be adopted, to be loved. To have a place he could call his. He never had this opportunity, but he could give it to someone else.

Harry looked at him closely, and if the Dark Lord didn't know he was only a child and not a threat, 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 those 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 could be your family." He simply answered softly. Harry didn't even know his name, who he was, or where he lived, but it seemed like it didn't matter to the child. To the Potter boy, he wasn't the Dark Lord.

"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 an excited brat, and if any of his Death Eaters saw him like that, they would say that his sanity was definitely lost.

"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 Father, or Dad, I don't really know." He said with a somewhat confused expression : he was very new to this. 'Dad' wasn't a word he was used to say. As was 'father', anyways.

"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.

Those muggles had screamed. And to Tom's ears, it sounded as a beautiful melody : it sounded like the melody of revenge on his younger self, and like a new start.

End Flashback :

Tom sighed. When he looked back at those events, he couldn't find any sense in his actions. He had never really felt mercy for anyone, even his parents or his 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 their children.

But it wasn't Tom's decision. He had tried, when Hadrian was younger, to make the boy meet 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 too noisy. I just wanted to read and maybe talk of magic with him, but he didn't know anything. How can he not question the existence of magic after living with it for years ! He was just interested by Quidditch !".

Tom had agreed easily : he knew he was too soft as a father, but he frankly thought he had made a good job raising his son. His son was an exact copy of himself younger : he was starving for knowledge.

"Hey, 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 brown haired boy speaking to with a smile. When the older Riddle blood-adopted the boy, Hadrian had changed a lot of his appearance : His hair became dark brown, and it was now hiding his left eye, where the scar usually was. When Goblins managed to save the eye, they also made the scar disappear : it had been on the face of the boy for too long. 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 from interfering 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 he hided it with his hair. His lips weren't as red as before, and his skin was much paler.

The child was nothing but beautiful.

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

"No. 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 ?" said Hadrian, immediately sensing his father's doubts.

"Hadrian Arthur Slytherin Riddle, I trust you as much as I trust myself." replied the man, sighing.

"Exactly. Don't you worry, I don't think any Slytherin, or other student for that matter, could possibly harm me. I mean, they could, but they'd have to deal with Bella." he joked, making a grimace.

Tom grinned, and laughed. Bellatrix was probably, after Tom, and along with Lucius, Hadrian's favorite adult. Those two shared a deep bond that had only gotten stronger over the years. The Lestrange lady would train the Dark Prince, as she called him, and answer some of his questions about the dark arts. When she didn't know the answer, they would both search for it in either the Riddle library or the Malfoy library, sometimes for days. It reminded Tom of how he would sometimes go and see their progress, only to see Bella up on a ladder, searching for books, while Hadrian was furiously searching through an already open book.

"I hope you remember that Bella fully expects you to take over Slytherin." playfully said the oldest Riddle, smirking. She kept telling the inner circle that Hadrian was far too smart and handsome not to take over Slytherin, even if he didn't want to.

"Even if he doesn't want to, My little Dark Prince will do it subconsciously !" she kept repeating, much to the chagrin of Lucius, who wanted his son to follow into his footsteps and rule the house of the snakes, and to the amusement of the other Death Eaters, who knew very well that Bella's claims were true.

Hadrian had too much charism, exactly like his father, not to shine as a beacon in the dark place where the snakes roamed.

"And I still think it is too much lost time. During the long hours I'd be thinking about house politic, or discussing with other Snakes, I could be reading and learning new things ! I am definitely going to pry into Hogwarts' forbidden section of the library." he said, as if it was obvious. Tom laughed again.

"I know how much you love reading, Hadrian, but trust me, leading a group of people is a useful skill that you will not be able to fully master out of Hogwarts."

"I will think about it if I have too much time to kill." simply answered the youngest Riddle, fully knowing that there was no way he would convince his father that leading Slytherin was useless to him.

"You better, otherwise I'm pretty sure Lucius will try to put his son on the house's throne."

"I am really sorry for Lucius, but if he thinks a single second that his son could rule me, then he is delusional." said the boy, as a matter of fact. Tom snorted : a gesture he only allowed himself to do in the company of his son.

"I am pretty sure you said you didn't want to rule the house."

"It is not because I don't want to rule Slytherin that I will let someone walk over me." answered Hadrian, his face blank, making the man smirk. His son was well trained in the domain of Occlumency, an art that he had mastered with Severus Snape.

"Is Young Massster going to leave ?" asked a visibly annoyed voice, that both Riddle recognized immediately, making them smile. Behind them, a long serpent was sliding over the ground, coming to them.

"Yesss, Nagini. I will be leaving for a few monthsss, but you should sssee me multiple timesss during the year." answered Hadrian in parseltongue, a skill he had gotten through the blood adoption.

"I don't like it ! Why are you leaving withsss a filthsssy bird, over a majessstic sssnake !" angrily hissed the creature, making Tom snort again. Hadrian had chosen to take a bird to school, a snowy white owl that he named Blizzard.

"Don't misssunderstand me, Nagini, I will have a sssnake sssoon. But no sssnake was worthsssy of being my familiar yet !" added the boy, making the snake hiss.

"I thsssink that you aren't worthsssy of any sssnake."

Tom laughed at seeing the indignant face of his son. Hadrian had changed him in the best way he could ever hope for, and he knew that he would never lose him. He would kill the person who'd try to take Hadrian from him before.

That is, if Hadrian didn't kill that person before.

The love between the father and his son could never be broken. And no matter what could happen in Tom Marollo Slytherin Riddle's life, one thing was sure : Hadrian was, is, and will be, his greatest achievement.

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

"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 ! James looked out of place, scared of speaking against his wife.

"Listen, Lily. Padfoot. I wanted to ease your pain with lies, and I excuse myself. But the facts are here, Harry 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 could be dangerous, learning magic before school !" She had doubted strongly that a kid learning magic would be a problem to his brother, but at that time, she had decided to follow Dumbledore's judgement, and James had certainly not helped in any way. "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 is in an orphanage for damaged children, 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. However, Hogwarts' Headmaster knew that they were both more than angry, they were furious.

"Lily ! Calm down, please ! I am as angry as you, but your magic is going to destroy the room and end us." said Sirius, his eyes still locked on Dumbledore.

"Sirius, my boy, I didn't want to put your family into more troubles. As you know, Voldemort might still be alive, and we needed John to train. Harry was probably already dead by the time I noticed his house had been attacked, and I didn't want to destroy your little family or John's training. Harry is a necessary sacrifice that..."

He didn't manage to finish his sentence, as Black knocked him out with a solid punch. James gasped at the action.

"There, you see Lily, I didn't use magic." furiously said the man.

"Padfoot, why did you do that !" yelled James.

"And why aren't you doing anything !" shouted back the other lord.

"This is war, Sirius ! It is sad that Harry left us, but we can't change anything. We now must care for John and..."

He never saw the Sirius' second punch.

"Dad !" yelped John, crouching next to his unconscious father.

Lily was openly crying by now. The next second, 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. They were not always like this. As a child, John really wanted to become better, but as he grew up, with his fame and his beautiful look, he had become a sort of Gilderoy Lockhart number 2, and she hated it.

Remus, Amelia, Frank and Alice Longbottom had all been right : the Potters had changed.

She would find her baby : 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 inner Slytherin that the Hat wanted to put her in.