A/N: This is my first Harry Potter Fanfiction so please be patient with me. Advice is encouraged, flames will be ignored. I currently do not have a Beta, so I will be doing this story on my own.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

"Normal Talk"
'Mind Talk'
"Parseltongue"

Groggily Harry opened his eyes, he couldn't see anything through the darkness, but the pain in his shoulders and neck told him where he was. With a sigh, he went to reach for his glasses, which were most likely stationed on one of the shelves above his head. A pain lurched through his abdomen as his arm stretched, the events of the last night coming to the forefront of his mind. He remembered each blow and cut his uncle had made. Harry whimpered as he curled into himself. Each wound made itself known, and any peace he had disappeared. The pain grew until it was too much, and he passed out again.

A stomp on the stairs above his head woke Harry up again. "Wake up boy, you have dishes to do!" Aunt Petunia ordered. The lock on the cupboard clicked and the door was thrown open. Harry was pulled from his room, the light burning his eyes. He looked at his aunt but couldn't focus on her. Everything was blurry, so Harry reached back into his cupboard to grab his glasses. As he reached into the cupboard, a foot connected with his back, pushing him headfirst into the wall. Harry passed out as his head split on the wood.

When he came back into consciousness, he noticed the door to his cupboard was shut again. Hopeful, he pushed the door to see if it was locked or not.

'You know that won't work.'

Harry wheeled around, hopelessly trying to find where the voice had come from.

'You won't be able to see me, I'm in your head.' the voice explained. Harry stilled, his heart still racing. "W-who are you?" he asked, his voice betraying his fear. The voice chuckled, a sense of amusement filled Harry, but he knew it wasn't his own.

'You know me, well, older me. I'm merely a piece of myself.'

"That doesn't tell me who you are." Harry complained, his heart calming down as he didn't sense any danger.

'My my Potter, ever the impatient one.' the voice mocked. Harry sighed, "I'm tired of calling you 'the voice', so can I please know what to call you?" A few moments of silence ensued. 'My Lord would work' Harry's heart sped up again.

"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice not betraying his fear this time. 'Fine, you can call me Marv-'

A shockwave shook the house, cutting the voice off. Thunderous steps came down the stairs as Harry's uncle stormed downstairs to investigate. "Who do you think you are?" he hollered, Harry was sure his face was purpling as he shouted. He put his ear to the door of his cupboard to better hear what was happening outside. A cold, voice hissed, "Where's Potter?" Harry shuddered and pushed himself into the corner of his cupboard to hide himself.

'He won't hurt you.' the voice said. Harry dryly chuckled, thinking to himself 'Like hell he won't.' He felt a hint of annoyance coming from the presence currently residing in his mind. 'I can hear you here too Potter. As I said, he will not hurt you. I called him here.' Harry stilled, his mind working in circles, 'What do you mean you called him here?' the voice chuckled. 'As I was trying to say before my counterpart interrupted, you can call me Marvolo. I'm part of Voldemort's soul, and I'm connected to you. Inside of you if you will.'

Harry shook his head and was going to respond then the door to his cupboard was blown open. Dust flew about him as he made to cover his face. He coughed as he inhaled. A sense of deja vu flooded him as he was once again abruptly pulled from inside of his cupboard. He hardly had time to look at the man in front of him. Instead of the white, snake-like appearance he had last seen Voldemort in, was an older version of the Tom Riddle he had seen in second year.

"Come on Potter, let's get you out of this filth." Even his voice had changed, instead of the cold hiss Harry heard earlier, this version's voice was deep and smooth. It was not warm however, but it did not cause a shiver to go down his back like before. Harry felt his eyebrows scrunch together as he tried to make heads and tails of the situation. His fight or flight response was not pulling at him as it usually did, instead he felt almost calm. He felt himself being pulled along, his eyes scanned the blown up entrance. His Uncle was on the ground, his eyes lifeless. Harry looked up the stairs and saw his Aunt, she was squashed by Dudley's lifeless body. His Aunt's eyes burned into him as he was pulled out the door, blood flowing down her face. Her eyes became lifeless as she glared at him, blaming him.

"Incendio! Morsmordre!" Voldemort shouted, the house going up in flames as Voldemort's mark hovered over the street. Harry's calmness left as he saw Ms. Fig standing down the street, one of her kneazles in her arms as shock covered her face. Harry pulled against the arm dragging him, tears blurring his already terrible vision. He was unsuccessful as the hand holding him was too strong. He barely had time to register a red light beaming towards him. He was out cold before he knew what hit him.

For what seemed to be the hundredth time, Harry woke abruptly. He gasped for air as memories assaulted him, confusion rained in his mind as he tried to understand what had happened.

'I can help you with that.' Marvolo said. Harry blinked as he realised he wasn't imagining the voice.'What happened? Why did Voldemort take me and not kill me?' He asked in his head. He looked around as he did, realising he was in a bed with a grand canopy, the room it was in was the size of the Gryffindor Common Room. Everything was decorated in greys, a lush circle carpeted rug sat on the black hardwood, protecting the floor from the light grey furniture. Both walls to his sides were huge windows, each leading to a balcony that showed a dark forest. A sofa sat in one corner, with a table in front of it. A desk sat in the other, parchment and ink already sitting on it.

'If you're done gawking I can explain the situation.' Marvolo said, annoyance tainting his tone. Harry sighed and focused back on the situation at hand, questions wandering through his mind quicker than he could recognize them. 'Let me start from the beginning,' Marvolo started, patience saturating his voice. He may be the dark lord's horcrux, but he still had grown with Harry and understood why the boy was acting the way he was. 'When Voldemort came to kill you on that Halloween night, he accidentally created something called a Horcrux. Horcruxes are a part of the creator's soul. They are - ' 'Wait you said you were a part of Voldemort's soul, you're a Horcrux!' Harry thought quickly. 'Yes, I am a Horcrux, good for figuring that out Potter. However, don't interrupt me again.' Harry nodded, even though the voice couldn't see it. 'Sorry, couldn't stop the question.' he thought back. He really didn't mean to interrupt.

Marvolo sensed the sincerity in the thought and so continued explaining. 'Yes, well I am in you, that makes you Voldemort's Horcrux. That means you are key to his continued Survival. You see, Horcruxes are made to keep the creator from dying. The diary in your second year was a horcrux as well. That's why Tom Riddle was taking Ginny's soul. If he had succeeded he would have been a complete body again. When you stabbed the diary you destroyed the horcrux. Do you understand what I am getting at?' Marvolor questioned.

Harry had to think for a second, but he wasn't nearly as stupid as everyone believed him to be. He could have easily gotten perfect scores on all his work if he wanted to, but having been punished for good grades had instilled the habit of purposefully doing bad on his work. 'If I'm a horcrux, if I die you get destroyed.' Harry sensed Marvolo's approval and felt a warmth spread through him. 'So, does that mean Voldemort wants to protect me now? If I die he can die, right?' Once again Marvolo was proud. He knew Harry was smart, but training him would be easier if he openly showed his intelligence with him.

'That is correct. Because of our connection I was able to share what was happening with my counterpart, it took a lot of energy though, so I won't be able to be active much longer.' Marvolo explained. Harry's eyes widened, ' What do you mean won't be able to be active much longer?' Marvolo let out a sigh, 'I only have a bit of magic in me, the only reason I was able to heal you and contact Voldemort was because I had been storing my magic for 14, wait, 15 years. Happy Birthday by the way.'

Harry sat up straight. Birthday, it was his birthday. 'What a shitty birthday present', Harry thought with a chuckle. Marvolo's anger flooded through Harry's mind. 'Shitty? Do not be an ungrateful brat. If it wasn't for me and my counterpart you would be dead or still suffering from those filthy muggles!' he hissed. Harry suddenly remembered the death of his family. He stiffened as an emptiness settled in his stomach. His own anger raged towards Marvolo's, a mental battle of fire fighting fire.

"Grateful? Grateful! You killed my family, you monster! They may have been shitty but no one deserves to die!" but as he shouted the words out loud, he realized he didn't truly believe them. Harry froze, his anger slowly dying. "They didn't deserve to die." he repeated, his words empty.

'I do not have time to help you figure out your morals. They did deserve to die, they tried to kill you. Anyone who kills deserves to die. I must go, my energy is fading. Go to sleep Potter, you'll need it for dealing with my counterpart.' Marvolo's voice faded, silence rang in Harry's head. 'Marvolo.. Marvolo?' He called out in his mind, but there was no response. With a sigh he sat back on the bed. He closed his eyes to try to sleep, but his thoughts would not settle.

Harry sat up and spotted the door out of his room. With nothing better to do, he figured he may as well figure out where he was. He got up, noticing the silk black pajamas that were hanging from him. They were almost too big. Looking around the room, it finally struck him that he could see perfectly fine without his glasses. He walked towards a tall dresser near the desk he noticed earlier. Opening it he noticed himself in the mirror, his eyes widened. His hair had grown longer, reaching his shoulders. He played with it a second before leaning in to notice any other differences. His scar had grown, probably from hitting his head inside the cupboard. It was still lightning-shaped, but the bottom reached past his eyebrow, causing a small slit. His eyes were still an Avada green, but they seemed to almost glow now.

Harry took a step back, the glow almost scaring him. That's when he noticed he was taller, he also looked like he had filled out. Lifting his shirt he noticed his ribs did not stick out as bad as they did before, he also noticed there were no scars or bruises on his body. His face was not so sickly looking, his eye bags had disappeared. His face had lost most of its gauntness and was now filled out allowing his high cheekbones and sharp jawline to show properly. Harry noticed a pair of black trousers, as well as a black sweater. He adorned them and went to turn away when he noticed a green silk ribbon. His hair fell in his eyes as he looked at it, and without a thought, he used it to tie his hair back.

He closed the door of the dresser and walked to the desk. On top of the stack of parchment sat a note.

"Your wand is in the drawer, your other belongings are stored in a drawer under your bed. Your owl is out hunting, based on how reluctant she was to leave you, I assume she will be back shortly. Gather what you must and call for a house-elf named 'Slinky'. She will bring you to me so that we may eat."

Remembering how Marvolo had told him to get some rest before meeting with Voldemort, Harry let out a chuckle. It seemed he would not be doing that. He opened the drawer and grabbed his wand, warmth flooding through him as the familiarity flowed through him. He put in the pocket of his trouser and called "Slinky!"

A house-elf adorned in a black gown with the dark mark adorned on the front popped in front of him. "You's be's awake. Master wait's. Come." The house-elf grabbed Harry's hand and made for the door. Harry allowed himself to be pulled along as he eyes the decoration in the hall. Instead of it being dark and gloomy, everything was light. Paintings of famous witches and wizards covered the walls, all of them eyeing him for a moment before going back to what their painting depicted. A green rug ran down the length of the hallway, depictions of moving snakes curling through it.

After what seemed to be half an hour of walking but was only a few minutes, the elf finally opened a door into a large dining room. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the table was made to fit a small army. Harry almost tripped over his own feet as the magnificence of the room overtook him. "Wow.." he mumbled.

"I'm glad you like it, this is where we will be eating from now on." A voice from his left spoke. Looking to the head of the table, Harry spotted Voldemort, the chair on his left was pulled out, so gathering all the courage he had, Harry walked over and sat in it. He looked down at the table, his hands sitting in his lap. "I assume Marvolo filled you in on most things." Voldemort stated, his eyebrow raised as he studied Harry.

Harry nodded but stopped suddenly. He opened his mouth as if to speak but nothing came out. He glanced at Voldemort and took a deep breath. "He said I was a Horcrux and explained what that meant. However, I'm still not sure what to expect." Voldemort stared at him for a second, and so Harry hurried to continue. "I mean, why not keep me in a cell so I can't escape and you can easily protect me that way. Why put me in a room? Eat with me? Why am I being treated so… so.. well?" The apprehension was apparent in Harry's voice as he trailed off in the end.

Without answering him, Voldemort called for Slinky. "Prepare us some steak with potatoes. Bring us each a goblet of pumpkin juice." The elf nodded, not looking afraid at all. "Right aways Master!" she said before popping away. Voldemort turned his attention to Harry, a smirk sitting on his features. "I have failed in properly taking care of most of my Horcruxes, I shall not fail with you. So long as you do not betray my trust you shall have free reign of the grounds and manor. Your room is yours to do as you please, and you may tend to the gardens as you wish. You may not touch anything else. Do not enter my rooms, and you must wait for permission to enter my Study. Are we clear?" he finished as Slinky popped in with their drinks and food.

Harry nodded as he eyed the food in front of him. "Yeah, I got it." he said as he picked up the closest fork to him, raising an eyebrow at how many utensils were sitting around his plate. Voldemort tsked, "It's yes sir, I shall not require you to call me 'My Lord' as you are not one of my death eaters. However, you will still show me respect." Harry bristled at the comment.

"Respect? You have tried to kill me for 15 years, just because you choose to protect me because I'm housing your soul does not mean I will show you respect. You earn respect." he spat. Voldemort's eyes got dark, "Say that again boy." he hissed in Parseltongue, the atmosphere in the room suddenly becoming dark and cold. Harry didn't seem to notice however. "You. Earn. Respect." he hissed back. The last thing Harry saw was a red light beaming at him,

Voldemort hadn't even lifted his hand.

Word Count: 2830