Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Marvel, Hellraiser, or any other comic/book/movie/etc. referenced to in this fanfiction.

Chapter One: Once Upon a Time

"Talking"

Thinking - Emphasized word - Spells

"Demonic/Godly/Cosmic Entity Speech" - Incantations

Foreword: Some origins and ages will be altered to fit into the narrative. I'll understand if it's not your cup of tea. I'll also appreciate if you don't use it as a reason to try and curse my eyes off. Please be warned, there will be character death, gore, torture...the good stuff.

A book was thrown away, it's reader sighing despondently as she did so. Her emerald green eyes searched almost hopelessly around her. She'd been visiting the Potter family library for days on end trying to find something...anything that would give her little Harry some form of protection when Voldemort came for them.

She never deluded herself, even in hiding as they were, that one day the so-called dark lord would find her family, and she wanted to be prepared for just that day, but the brightest witch of her age had failed. When her baby needed her, she failed.

She heard the distant voices of her husband and his closest friends as they shouted and encouraged her little troublemaker as he no doubt caused chaos in their house.

The first voice she recognized was, of course, Remus Lupin. The usually soft spoken man was as boisterous as the two others, shouting incentives for her little baby. Lily had been worried for her baby boy when he first met the werewolf, but it didn't take long at all for the green eyed little ball of energy to have even the brains behind the Marauders wrapped around his little finger.

Then she heard Sirius Black shouting something or other about power, and she swelled with pride. Sirius was the black sheep of the Black family, a known dark family. Some of the darkest spells known to wizardkind had been crafted by his family, he probably had books on it...that particular revelation made her pause in her thought process. The Black family library was sure to be filled to the brim with dark magics and rituals, and given he was still on somewhat good terms with the current Head of House, maybe she could even peruse one of said books. The light books contained in the Potter family library failed to produce a single light-sided ritual that would protect her baby from Voldemort, maybe the dark magics would have an answer.

With that in mind, and steeling herself for a possibly disastrous conversation, Lily all but stormed her way downstairs, where the trio of James, Sirius and Remus were watching a baby Harry happily waving his arms around and making some of the decoration in the house float around.

"See that Lils? Our boy is making all this at will and wandlessly! The amount of power necessary for this is astounding, never mind the control!" James was ecstatic as he exclaimed, turning his attention to her, and, with her own eyes on her little powerhouse, she just grinned widely and with a hint of mischief on her voice, replied.

"Of course! He's my son, after all." She had expected him to play along, or even be actually somewhat offended by her affirmation, but James just laughed and nodded happily, love and adoration in his eyes as he looked at her once more before turning again to the littlest Potter, giggling and magically juggling the house's decoration.

Lily turned her attention to Sirius then, and stepping closer to the man, leaned over and whispered. "Can I talk to you in private real quick?" She noted the raised eyebrow but he nodded all the same, and the two of them walked away from the scene, leaving the two menchildren and the actual child to play some more.

They arrived at the kitchen and after putting up some privacy spells, Lily turned to Sirius, suddenly nervous. "Sirius...I don't really know how to ask this, if there's some pureblood protocol and I don't particularly care right now, it's for Harry's sake…" the man she was addressing seemed to grow more and more concerned with each word but remained quiet until she'd finished speaking, for which she was grateful. "I need you to bring me anything your family has on protection rituals."

For his credit the only sound of his surprise was a loud gasp as she finished her request. Sirius gave her a searching look for a second and then nodded seemingly to himself and asked in a low and concerned voice. "Him?" She knew who he was referring to, and knew about the supposed taboo spell on Voldemort's name that kept people from saying it aloud. It was what began the whole You-Know-Who and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named crap in the first place.

"Yes. I searched the Potter library, studied all their magic for months now and found nothing...I feel like I'm running out of time, Sirius, and I'm getting desperate. I'll do anything for my baby, even turn to the darkest of magics if I have to...please." Despite the desperation evident in her tone and most likely face, Sirius just grinned and nodded again, before laughing at her shocked face.

"...you should really see your face. That was a good laugh! Anyway, of course I'll look it up for you, it's probably going to be dark magic, but like you say, it's for Harry, and I'm his godfather, I'm supposed to protect him as well." It was her turn to laugh as he gave her a goofy grin when he said the word godfather. She nodded and with a quick Finite Incantatem, they returned to the still laughing and playing around trio.

Red, slitted eyes watched the house in Godric's Hollow where the family of the child prophesied to defeat him lived. It had been so very easy to...convert the young mister Pettigrew to his cause. A bit of pain, and the promise of power and the man was sold like fine cattle. Voldemort finished preparing his ritual, which involved himself and the three occupants of the house. It was a very dark ritual and therefore not much used by magical society, even the dark families grew to fear its usage, but not him. He understood exactly what the implications were and therefore, knew how to control the ritual.

He didn't rant in his mind about the specifics of the ritual, he already knew all that, but the result, he felt no need to not remind himself of it. It was simple, really, whoever was left standing after the other presences in the house were vanquished, inherited all the magical power in the of those in the area of effect. And since for this specific ritual the area of effect meant the house at Godric's Hollow he was currently observing, when he finished killing the Potters, he would, in turn, inherit all their magic.

He couldn't stop the grin that split his face at that thought. The boy was to be his equal, according to prophecy, so he would basically double his already considerable power. Of course, for that reason he had to do this alone, so no Death Eaters were notified of his plans, the only was in the know had been Wormtail, and the man was currently chained up in his basement, under oath to speak to no one until his return; a precaution, in case his conscience suddenly returned.

With confident strides, the darkest wizard to ever exist approached the Potter house, uncaring of tripping any wards, for his own were already in place. Anti-apparition, anti-portkey, anti-floo and the like, the Potters really had nowhere to run anymore, and the so-called prophesied child would die.

"Lily! They're here! Take Harry and run!" James never took his eyes off the door even as he shouted, hoping against all hope that the Death Eaters had forgotten at least one of the wards. With a flick of his hand his trusty wand jumped from its holster, ready to assist its partner.

Heart hammering against his chest, the Head of House Potter took steadying breaths. For Lily and Harry. He reminded himself, even as the door was blown to smithereens. As the dust settled, to his horror, he recognized the figure at the door.

"Voldemort…" He whispered, taking a battle stance. His hope of surviving was crushed at the realization of just who he was going to fight, but not his determination to do just that. He could still buy time for his wife and son, after all.

"Ah, young James...quite the headache, you are." The dark lord's tone of light, jovial even. Like talking to an old friend. "I must say, you and your wife have impressed me time and again...so, despite everything you've cost me throughout the years I'll offer one last time. Join me. Step aside, tell your wife to do the same, and allow me to kill young Harry. He is but a child, you can have others. What is one life over the fate of House Potter?"

As Voldemort delivered his little speech, James just gaped at the man, if one could even call him that anymore. Did he really think he'd even consider sacrificing his own son just to live one more day? "Yeah, I'll pass. One, I'd never live it down. Two, he is my son. Three, you're insane."

No more words were spoken, as soon as he'd finished, James launched the first spell of the battle. He wasn't going to treat it as a duel, for there were certain customs to be observed during duels, and he'd die before he bowed to Volde-fucking-mort.

Even as she heard the sounds of battle, and her husband shouting abuse at the dark lord as they fought; something that brought a grin to her face despite the situation; Lily prepared the finishing touches to her ritual. She'd been preparing for months now with Sirius as her guide to all things dark.

It was a complex, extremely dark ritual that called upon external forces to protect a loved one. The ritual, like any extremely dark rituals, required the sacrifice of a pure soul. The book even conveniently explained just how to diagnose a soul as pure or not. Thankfully her own soul was checked as pure, so the ritual could proceed as planned. When the dark lord killed her, it would activate the runes she'd inscribed on her baby's crib, and that would, in turn, call upon said external force to protect her precious baby boy. The book said that the sacrificed soul was to be damned, never to reach heaven, as it was absorbed into the recipient of the ritual, forever acting as a form of signature.

She turned her attention from her finished work toward her Harry, and gave him a weak grin. "It's going to be alright, baby. Mommy won't let the bad guy take you, okay?" She leaned down and kissed the toddler on his forehead before continuing. "Mommy will always be with you, honey, watching and protecting you. I'm sorry I can't do more, but given just who decided to come after us, I know even with all my strength I couldn't hold him off."

The sound of battle stopped, and she just knew she had lost her husband. Tears began streaming down her face at that thought. Her husband, the man she'd fallen so hopelessly in love with after she finally saw the man behind the prankster after their fifth year, when she'd personally witnessed how he stood against adolescent Death Eaters who were threatening one of their own house. That he'd protected a Slytherin was a surprise in itself, but the fear he'd put on the men simply by standing there and challenging them the way he did impressed her immensely.

The footsteps grew closer and she took a deep breath to ready herself. It was futile to fight; she knew that, so she wouldn't even try. Besides, she was a sacrifice, sacrifices usually didn't fight back. She watched as the robed figure of Voldemort appeared at the door to Harry's nursery, and cursed Pettigrew in her mind. Not only did the Dorkest of Lords know where they lived, he practically knew the whole layout of her house! He knew exactly where to go to find little Harry.

"Ah, the mudblood…" he began and she mentally sighed, preparing herself to hear a monologue. "You see, Severus came running to me with this prophecy, saying that your baby would one day be my downfall. I'm not sure if he knew then and planned it but, once he learned that one of the people I'd be going after eventually were you and your family, begged me to spare you specifically. I found it most amusing, and considered it as I made my way here, because honestly I'd just love to see the wife of that wretch raped by my Death Eaters, but your husband's defiance and his incessant necessity to run his mouth during our fight has extinguished my generosity, so…"

And with two more words, the wife of James Potter, proud mother of Harry James, and creator of the Evans magical family was no more.

† Timeskip: Five Years Later †

"...and stay out until you learn not to respond to your betters!" The boy just laughed at that and made a gesture he'd seen his cousin do many times before, before turning his back and walking away from number four on Privet Drive.

His relatives, his mom's sister, Petunia, her husband Vernon, and that whale they called a son always did something like this, trying with all their might to break his spirit, but he refused to be broken, so he laughed through the beatings, talked back when they called him freak, he even had the audacity to fight back against Dudley and his little gang of brutes. Sure he'd go home bloodied and bruised. The only thing that really kind of shook him was the fact that no matter how much they hurt him; aunt Petunia even ironed the palm of his hands with her ironing machine; it would always heal overnight. He took it in stride, as with everything else they did to him, but in the privacy of his mind he admitted that that little bit of weirdness freaked him out.

Harry turned his head just as he heard a terrified shout coming from just down the street, and with a sigh and cursing his inability to not help people, ran over. He arrived just in time to see a group of boys holding a lone girl while what appeared to be their leader prepared to rape her; oh he knew many words he shouldn't, as his uncle's shouted abuse sometimes roused his curiosity. He was going to regret this.

"Hey, fuckers! Takes a lot of fucking courage to attack someone six against one!" He saw the eyes of every person involved turn toward him, and the sole female's eyes widened in terror for him, knowing what he was trying to do apparently. He noticed that in their surprise the goons' hold on her slackened, so even as he approached what would likely be a beating to remember, Harry grinned.

"I think this is the part you run, lady!" He was close to the leader, who still had his dick out, and with all the might in his six year old body, punched the man's tool before he, laughing at the shriek that left the older man's mouth, turned and ran. "Ha! Nice voice you got there, Celine Dion!"

With that he was gone, running back the way he came toward the patch of trees that passed as a forest in his neighbourhood. Distantly he could hear the leader telling his men to forget the woman and go after him. At least she'll be safe, he thought as he ran.

He could hear them gaining on him, so he willed his tiny body to go faster. He was well within the confines of the forest he thought he'd lose them in, but one of those fuckers had to be a bloody dog in human skin, he kept telling the others where he was.

Harry leaned against a particularly thick tree and tried to catch his breath, he'd been running nonstop for some time now, and despite his misadventures with Dudley and his band, his six year old body had limits.

His head snapped up as a twig nearby broke, the sound catching his attention. What he saw, however, froze him in place.

"Well...fuck me." He whispered. Standing some paces away from him, staring intently directly into his eyes was something out of his worst nightmare. That thing is not human! He thought frantically. Despite everything, when the being growled at him, his fight or flight triggered on fight, and in spite of his shaking legs, the young boy braced himself. "If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna go swinging."

The thing leapt at him faster than anything he'd ever seen, but he was still able to roll out of the way, if only just. He looked up just in time to see it open its huge maw and bite down at his right shoulder, causing a howl of pain to leave his lips before he could catch himself. Even still Harry glared at the monster biting down on him and as his mind numbed from the pain, croaked out "Let go, you fucking bitch." The last thing he heard before darkness consumed him was a gasp from somewhere behind him, which meant the would-be rapists had found him.

AN: I'm back, after almost a year...or was it a whole year? Anyway, I tried, I really did, but it seems my old PC is a lost cause, so I decided to make do and use Google Docs to write my stories from now on. During my forced time away, I read a specific story, that dealt with Harry getting a dark being's powers and traveling across many different realities. Lemme just check the name real quick...

Ah! Here it is, Brightest in Shadow by AthanMortis. It's a really cool story, worth a read, and it inspired this one. It's going to span a whole Multiverse worth of troubles for this Harry to get into.

I'm going to settle into a routine of uploads, I'm just not sure what it's going to be yet, but I'll be hitting you guys with new chapters hopefully once a week, like I said I'm not sure yet.

Also, while I put Marvel as the crossover, do note that I'll be mostly using the Cinematic Universe, trying to mix X-Men and Deadpool with the rest of the gang. I will be pulling some characters from the comics though, just to reassure you guys that I'll try my best to encompass all of Marvel, even though I haven't even touched a comic in over a decade.

What else...if you guys want to suggest future Universes for Harry and company to go to, they'll eventually get to it. But Multiverse travel won't start before he resolves things in his own Universe.

Anyway, that will be it for this chapter, I'm sorry for the long timeout, but I was really trying to fix my PC, and real life has a way to kick your ass that's just...unique.

Well, that's that.

See ya o/