Author's Note: This took me a lot longer than I thought it would. I had to reformat some of the previous chapters too.

I've quit my social media activities for an entire week and I still have like 5 days to go so sorry if I don't reply from @unscrewed_up on instagram.

Profanity warning: There's literally just the F word once but - just in case you can't handle that - I'm warning you.

Also, just to note that any dialogue all in italics is Parseltongue.

The First Year: Part Four.

- Twelve -

Draco ran. He found himself slamming into nothingness, and he smiled.

"Harry! I'm coming with you!", whispered Draco as he grasped in front of himself, pulling the cloak from over Harry.

Harry huffed; Draco smirked. Harry didn't realise just how well Draco knew him. Draco predicted exactly what Harry would say, before he had even opened his mouth, and he revelled in this proudly.

"Draco, you cannot. It's too dangerous!", hushed Harry.

"Yes, I can", Draco jokingly whined, "I said so".

Harry rolled his eyes and glanced away. Draco laughed at this, 'Harry is far too easy to annoy'. Draco really loved to tease Harry, but at the same time, no one else was permitted to do such a thing - unless they wanted Draco to hex them into next week.

"You know that I will protect you, no matter what. You're not going alone", protested Draco, his hand reaching for Harry's, as he gently restrained the boy.

"Oh, Draco", Harry sighed deeply, "I will be perfectly safe alone. I don't want you to get hurt".

Draco stared at Harry. He had no choice, he would have to use his greatest weapon. "Harry, I will tell Professor Snape that you are misusing what he has taught you. Do you want him to be disappointed in you?".

Harry thought long and hard, saying nothing, but Draco could tell that he had won.

- Thirteen -

The two boys silently stalked down the corridors. They peered inside the classroom. The shape of a man was visible from the doorway, but the door was locked.

"Fuck", exclaimed Harry, silently cursing his rotten luck. He pulled himself away from Draco and put his finger to his lips. Walking away, without the cover of his cloak, he knocked.

"Hello, H... Harry", stuttered Professor Quirrell as he looked for anyone else in the dark, deserted corridors.

"Hello, Sir", began Harry, "I just wanted your help with something", continued Harry with diplomacy, "Please, may I come in?". The gentle smile on his face hid the dark excitement that lurked within. His hand, concealed behind his back, motioned for Draco to follow.

"H... how may I...", Quirrell started to inquire, until he heard it.

The gentle hissing from Harry's mouth, the way the words slithered through the cold air, and the way it made him freeze in terror. He knew exactly what the boy wanted.

His smirk grew and he waited, a reasonable distance remained between the two of them, and then he spoke again - in English this time, "Would your master not like to show himself then?", Harry baited.

And that was when it happened. A harsh, high voice hissed from behind Quirrell, "Turn around, show him, now".

Quirrell screamed out in pain - sounding like a tortured animal - as he squeezed the desk. His neck contorted, revealing just what had been hidden underneath the Professor's turban.

Harry felt gleefully disgusted. Quirrell's head was severely deformed by the face of a hideous, snake-like man. His red eyes shone in the darkness and his flat features looked wasted and starved. Snape had been correct.

"I came here for answers, Voldemort", Harry stated, his cold eyes locked onto Voldemort's.

Voldemort hesitated, he seemed to be considering something, and then he replied, "What is it?".

Harry could barely hide his shock, he hadn't expected Voldemort to comply. "Why did you kill my parents?".

"Oh!", said Voldemort, feigning surprise, "Did Dumbledore not tell you?". His face formed a thin smile as he watched the boy's face change.

"Tell me what?", questioned Harry. He knew he couldn't allow himself to be taken in, but he also knew that he wanted the truth.

"It is Dumbledore's fault that I went after your parents", Voldemort said calmly. "In a war, you have to do bad things to win. But Dumbledore led me to believe you were a threat, knowing I would target you".

Harry didn't know what to say. He felt so betrayed. He had always known Dumbledore was using him, but this was even worse.

Voldemort stepped closer amd whispered, "Harry, he just wants you so that he can win. After that, you mean nothing to him".

Harry found himself feeling oddly satisfied with this explaination: it confirmed what he had thought all along, "I already knew this".

Voldemort looked at the boy. He saw a boy with so much talent, so much potential, who had been betrayed and abandoned by the wizarding world. He decided that this boy could just as easily become something more than Dumbledore's pawn, if given the incentive to do so. He braced himself, he was going to try something risky, but it would be worthwhile.

"Harry, look at me", Voldemort hissed, lowering himself to Harry's eyes.

Harry gasped as a flurry of images flashed in his mind:

A boy, an orphanage, and the years of suffering...

Dumbledore appearing in the doorway, a fire engulfing the wardrobe...

The shock of realising you were not alone, and the betrayal felt at being left alone for so long...

Sat alone on the train, the joy of seeing Hogwarts...

The Sorting hat, and Slytherin: the feeling of belonging for the first time.

And then he was back in the Defense classroom.

Voldemort stood back up to his full height, "Don't you see, Harry? We are the same".

Harry felt completely overwhelmed. He had never really met anyone like him before, and for that person to be your parent's killer. It made no sense.

Voldemort walked towards the centre of the room, silently casting damaging spells on every corner of the room, "I want you to know that I do not consider you my enemy, Harry".

He then overturned the furnishings in the room, with one sweeping motion, "Ask for Riddle's Diary if you intend to ally yourself with me. I know Malfoy is here; his father will know".

Voldemort stepped forwards, placing both of his hands on Harry's face. The smell of charred flesh filled the air as his skin blackened, "We will meet again, I'm sure a smart boy like you will come up with a good excuse for this".

- Fourteen -

Shadows flickered before his eyes as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Hushed voices swam around his mind as he strained to focus on something, anything.

"Harry?", a voice cut through the hazed feeling that had settled itself within Harry's body.

Harry sat up slowly, but he felt far too tired to reply, and nodded.

"I'm glad you are feeling better. You have been very brave", said a voice, that Harry now recognised as Dumbledore's.

Harry closed his eyes again, he had little interest in what Dumbledore had to say, and the temptation to lose his temper was too easy to fall to.

"It's time to leave soon. Professor Snape has informed me that he wishes to care for you this summer. He is applying to become your legal guardian, do you really want that, Harry?", questioned Dumbledore in a deceivingly kind voice, the implication that Dumbledore had little interest in Harry being anywhere but with the Dursleys made Harry feel sick.

"I would love him to", groaned Harry, narrowing his eyes at Dumbledore briefly.

Dumbledore said nothing as he walked away, leaving Harry in the hospital wing. Harry was not particularly bothered by this, however, as Draco entered a moment later.

"Urgh, Gryffindor won the house cup", complained Draco as he sat himself at the end of the bed.

"What a shame", Harry agreed. It did not surprise either of them that Gryffindor won, but it was still disappointing.

"Are you coming to my house this summer?", Draco animatedly asked.

"Definitely!", Harry replied fast. The idea of going to a friend's house over the summer was unbelievably exciting to Harry, but so was the idea of finding out the truth "We should ask your father about it".

Yeah...", said Draco, "I'm going to go and get my trunk; I'll meet you on the train".

"I'm not going on the train", Harry whispered. Draco raised his eyebrows critically, "I'm going to meet Professor Snape, and after that? I don't really know".

Author's Notes: This was kind of hard to write but I hope that you think it makes sense.

I'm going to take the time to refine some aspects of second year (I do have a plan but it needs more detail) and then I will upload the first part.

Do you think Harry will accept Voldemort as an ally? Should Voldemort be trusted? What do you think Harry thinks of Dumbledore? What will happen in the second year?

Thank you so SO much for reading. It makes me so excited every time I see people have liked/followed/reviewed etc.