Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
Chapter 1
One minute to go, just one minute and he'd be eleven. Harry shivered slightly in the shack. Maybe it was his imagination, but everything suddenly seemed to be getting colder. There seemed to be a shadow falling down on them, shading the digits on Dudley's watch. But surely it was just the dark getting the better of him?
A chilling thought filled the boy's mind. What if that thump from Uncle Vernon earlier had got to him. He wasn't usually hit on the head, normally it was just his back or arms. What if that hit had caused brain damage? What would the kids at Stonewall High think if he came in a gibbering idiot? It seemed everything was against him having a descent time at school.
BOOM!
Harry froze, it wasn't his imagination. Something was coming to the shack. He leapt to his feet as Dudley jerked away with a stupid mutter of 'where's the canon?'
A huge lump in his throat Harry contemplated either running away, or approaching the door. He stood in the half light, a small, dishevelled figure. His aches and pains forgotten.
THWACK!
The door gave an amazing shudder and it uttered a horrible scraping sound that made Harry want to recoil. But he dared not move as the door - right before his eyes - crumbled to dust. There was another the crash, as Uncle Vernon rushed in, his shaking arms carrying a rifle. Following him was a hiccupping Aunt Petunia. But Harry was only dimly aware of all this. He was transfixed by the figure in the doorway. Who's snakelike, piercing red eyes held his emerald ones. He couldn't blink, couldn't even move. It felt like a fine tooth comb was raking his brain.
"What did you hope to achieve, hiding here?" the 'man' (could you call him a man? He seemed so formidable to be called a mere man!) finally turned away from Harry, and instead fixed his eyes on Vernon and Petunia, "whom were you hiding him from? Albus Dumbledore? The Muggle loving fool - or myself? Surely you didn't think you could keep me from my own flesh and blood. Or were you under instructions - I wonder?"
There was sharp, tense silent - broken only by the whimpers of Dudley. A short thump told Harry Petunia had fallen to the ground in a faint. Vernon himself looked absolutely terrified - and Harry didn't blame him. He was petrified himself. He watched as Vernon waved his gun around in shaking, sweating hands. Harry watched one drop of sweat fall to the floor.
"I am w-warning y-you, you are breaking and entering," Vernon gulped, "I'm armed!"
"Poor, stupid, muggle fool," the man said with a slight, mirthless laugh. He slowly paced into the miserable room. Now Harry saw that a snake followed him, and he could see distant dark figures beyond the doorway, "you really don't know what you're doing are you, muggle?" The snake man continued, "I am Lord Voldemort. I a being beyond the worst nightmare your pitiful muggle imagination could dream up. I've killed men better and more .... how to put it? ... Intimidating than you Vernon Dursley. That stupid muggle weapon means nothing to me." The snake man - Lord Voldemort - snapped his fingers suddenly. Then the gun - that thin package Vernon had so thoughtfully bought earlier the day - also crumbled to dust. Just like the door.
"Let's have a bit of light in here!" Lord Voldemort suggested suddenly, "I'd like to be able to see my heir and only son. Hopefully this poor excuse for a shack looks better than it smells. Though you had better hope Nagini can hold her hunger - Muggle. You see my snake? She's hungry and you're the promised meat. Lumos!'
The man held up his stick like a torch, and Harry felt extremely self conscious of his face - blackened with bruises - illuminated in the light. He felt Lord Voldemort's eyes on him again, this time that feeling didn't fill his mind though. No, Lord Voldemort was seeing the damage done to his son. And Harry too, looking up to meet the man's eyes, saw the full extent of Lord Voldemort.
Power seemed to radiate from the man's body. He was tall, thin and cloaked in black. But Harry could still see those slits of those evil red eyes staring out from beneath the hood. The man had pale, spider like hands, his skin was so white! He looked like a spectre to Harry. Except that spectres and ghosts weren't really, and they didn't have solid bodies. This man was very real, so real Harry almost didn't blame Dudley for the disgusting, urinal smell coming from him, and Lord Voldemort certainly looked solid.
"Who did this to you boy?" Lord Voldemort's voice, no more than hiss, caused a fresh cry from Dudley. It took Harry a moment to realise he was referring to him, his bruises and scratches covering his bare arms and face. Indistinctively Harry looked at Vernon, unsure of what to say,
"He-he fell off his bike," Vernon just about managed to stutter, "silly little tyke."
Little tyke? Little tyke? Vernon had only ever called Dudley that before. With a snap Harry realised what his Uncle was doing. He didn't want this man's wrath.
"You're lying," the man said softly, "you did it to him, didn't you muggle? I know when you're lying. I'll always know. You will pay, stupid man. You and your whole sorry family. Does my son even know what he is?"
"C-course he does," Vernon apparently couldn't learn his lesson. Voldemort's arms twitched - how he longed to torture this man already. But no, he had to get a few answers first. Usually one dose of the cruciatus curse was enough to render a muggle - a weak muggle like this one in particular - useless. And besides, Narcissa had begged him not to be too violent in front of the boy. Voldemort wasn't in the habit of taking any advice from even his most loyal death eaters. But he accepted that she had bought her own son up, while he had been separated from him by Albus Dumbledore.
"I'll be as kind as to warn you, muggle," Voldemort continued, "the more you like, the slower you'll die. I can make it last so long you'll think time itself has stopped, leaving you in a personal dimension of pain!" Then again, no one had said anything about not describing it infront of the boy.
"Harry!" the boy tried to meet the scary man's eyes, "do you know what you are?"
He said nothing, it was quite plain that he had not understood the question. The snake man nodded.
"You haven't told him he's a wizard?" he questioned softly. He smiled crookedly as the boy's head jerked, "I will, of course, explain later in greater detail. However now there are more serious things at hand."
"He's not going anywhere!" Uncle Vernon seemed to have gathered up what was left of his courage - or was it lunacy? His left temple throbbed worryingly and there was a hideous glint to his eyes, "we don't want your m-ma-rubbish! We swore we'd stamp it out of him! Swore it right from the start when we took him in."
Suddenly Vernon, overcome by his madness, leapt at Harry! A crazy bundle of flailing fists, trying to squash down the pebble in his shoe that had suddenly became a great, gashing, peice of glass stuck in his flesh. It was all the stupid boy's fault. The trouble on the family had been caused by that piece of stinking, filthy dirt. And when Vernon Dursley was stressed, well it was a natural reaction to take it out on Harry.
If he felt like it, Voldemort would have stopped the man. But he was interested in how his son would react. He watched the beaten boy with interest.
Harry's eyes widened with terror.
Make him stop! Do anything! Don't let him hurt me! He prayed silently. He thought of his dreams, those horrible scary nightmares where the man - exactly the same as the one standing in front of him - had made people stop with words like pretificus totalloose or something like that.
So young Harry did the first things that came to his head.
"Petrificus Totallooose!" he shouted, waving his arms around slightly, hoping, begging, pleading that something - anything would happen. At the same time he dived around Dudley, out of the way of Vernon - and coincidently right next to Voldemort.
Harry wasn't facing Voldemort. No, he was shaking with a mixture of fear, excitement and amazement as he watched his Uncle. It was mad, it couldn't be happening! No!
Lord Voldemort watched with pride as the spell - pronounced incredibly wrongly as it was - worked. Dursley's arms and legs snapped to his sides and he fell to the ground stiffly. Like puppet, who's hinges didn't bend and who's strings were cut. With an amused smile Voldemort turned to the trembling boy before him.
Dudley Dursley vomited, but no one noticed. Harry was too horrified with himself, and Voldemort had other things on his mind.
"I-" Harry could barely believe that his voice still worked, "s-sorry. Oh no! I-I've-" Harry made as if to run to the fallen form of his Uncle, but a tight, spider like arm gripped the side of the little boy's shoulder, holding him still.
Terrified Harry turned to look at his captor. He was shaking so much he didn't think his legs would hold him. He was almost glad that he was being held up.
"W-what have I done?" he asked himself aloud, completely stricken, the image of Vernon boring down like an angry bull blared in his mind, and he almost forgot the presence of the - wizard? "p-please let me go. I'm sorry! I won't do it again! No-"
Watching with interest as the boy's emerald eyes' glazed over, Voldemort shook his shoulder ever so slightly.
"Are you there Harry?" the wizard asked quietly, he voice had no pity - but wasn't harsh either, "I will deal with your Uncle. I am your father, and I'm extremely pleased with what you just did."
Harry forced himself to look up at the snake like face. Ever since he was very young he'd dreamed of mysterious relatives, turning up at the door one day, and taking him away from the Dursleys. Never to return. Though he'd never imagined it quite like this.
"You see my snake?" Lord Voldemort questioned, Harry nodded, "follow her outside. There are some people there. They'll look after you while I sought the muggles out."
The snake hissed a greeting, adding that Harry needn't worry. Though he couldn't help but be anxious, Harry did feel a little warmer and gave his thanks to the snake.
"A Parselmouth, hey," Lord Voldemort smiled to himself. Giving Nagini the nod to tell the snake to get going. Dumbledore would be arriving soon. Lord Voldemort was most glad to have gotten to his son before the stupid old man had.
Nervously, every step taken with great effort, trying to ignore the feel of the wizard's eyes on him, Harry followed the snake out of the shack.
It was raining heavily, and the rocks were extremely slippery. There was no sign of the battered boat he and the Dursleys arrived on. But Harry was suddenly confronted with two people - a man and a woman - watching him closely. There stares were almost as bad as that snake man.
Frightened, Harry restrained his urge to shrink away as all at once they bowed low, addressing him as 'young master' in lowered voices. Harry, his legs still so weak, was completely overwhelmed and took a terrified step away.
The woman gave a shrill laugh.
"He doesn't understand, doesn't know a thing," she informed her companion. She bent low, brushing her long, beautiful, silky black hair out of her face as she did. Her hooded eyes giving Harry a most appraising look. She smiled, and held out her hand for him to take.
"Bellatrix Lestrange," she introduced herself quietly, "this seems very strange to you, I know. Your father is the greatest wizard in the world, and so we respect you too of course. You'll stay with us while your father finishes off your aunt and uncle," she gave a laugh at this, she lifted a hand and fingered one heavy purple bruise by his cheek, "we won't hurt you, and soon we'll have all those bruises healed up. Will you be alright for now?"
Harry gave a shaky nod, too stunned and shocked to think properly or question the woman's intentions. He was so light and small, and gave only the hint of a struggle as Bellatrix lifted him up onto her arms, and rocked him slightly.
It could have just been the incantation Bellatrix whispered, but all the same he was asleep in a trice. Bellatrix smiled slightly as she added a waterproofing charm to him aswell.
"This is a most interesting new side to you I've never seen before, Bella," Lucius mused, ignoring the screams from the shack that would have rattled most people.
Bella shrugged, "I sometimes regret being unable to have children myself. Besides - how else are you supposed to act with the son of the Dark Lord?"
It was only an our later that Lord Voldemort reappeared, hastened by the knowledge that Albus Dumbledore would soon arrive. He have a brief nod at the small shape in Bella's arms, trusting her to keep him safe as the disparated back to the base.
To Be Continued as soon as I can. (I actually like this fic, I tend not to like my own fanfics, but I'm rather attached to the plot in this one).
Next Chapter: Harry is introduced to the Death Eaters, his new home and Father. Also encounter Draco Malfoy! And don't worry about exactly how Voldemort is still alive etc, etc, all shall be revealed in time!
