disclaimer: Not mine, only Raven and any OC that may show up.

'thoughts'; - speach; parseltongue

[a/n: Please, I really need answers to the questions in the Prologue before anything major happens in the story]

CHAPTER ONE.

Raven sat up with a start and banged his head hard in the process. He opened his eyes to see what attacked him and was shocked to see himself in a small dark space. He automatically cast the Lumos charm and his jaw almost hit the floor as he realized that he was in a cupboard. He didn't recall ever having to live in such conditions, so he knew something didn't go the way it was supposed to. The boy wondered what the problem was and how it affected his quest. The answer came sooner than he anticipated, but it was not something he was ready to deal with.
- HARRY POTTER, GET UP!
The loud shriek was accompanied by loud banging on the cupboard door. Raven froze, he could hear his heart pounding in his chest as reality hit him as a herd of hippogriffs - he was now Harry Potter, the wonder boy. At first he was horrified, but then the possibilities came to his mind, all the things he could prevent, all the lives he could save. The only thing that he knew he wanted to know was what happened to the original Raven Evans.

Recalling everything that his cousin told him about the Dursleys, Raven pushed open the cupboard door and went to what he assumed was the kitchen to start breakfast for his new 'relatives'. When he saw disgust and hatred filled looked he wondered for a few brief seconds what it would feel like to conjure a king sized cobra, or even a basilisk. The idea was very entertaining, but he knew all too well that the house was full of Dumbledore's charms and spells, even curses. The only thing that that the house lacked were the very same blood wards that were supposed to protect Harry from death eaters. Sure, there were wards, but they were only to alert Dumbledore of Harry leaving the premises of 4, Privet Drive. When Raven understood this, he had half the mind to simply go away to one of his manors, but he knew that since he was now Harry Potter he would have to act accordingly, at least until he got his letter. A quick glance at the calendar told him that he only had to wait a couple of weeks. HIs musings were interrupted by Petunia speaking:

- Oh, Vernon, it's bad. Missis Figg called and she broke her leg, so she won't be able to watch over the boy. Do you think maybe Marge could...?

- No, Pet. Marge left for Majorca with that friend of hers, Ivonne, I think. We'll have to take him with us to the zoo.

- But can't he stay here?

- You are willing to leave him alone at home, what if he blows it up?

- I suppose that is true... Boy, come here.

Raven grit his teeth in annoyance, he couldn't wait to get away from the bastards, still he put on his best politely blank mask:

- Was there something you wanted, uncle?

- Listen closely, you little freak. You are going with us to the zoo. If anything strange happens, you will regret that you were even born, am I clear?

- Yes, sir. 'Damn, I so wish I could... hey, maybe if I ask nicely a poisonous snake would bite him?' With that pleasant thought he folowed the Dursleys out of the house and into the car.

Strange, but Raven couldn't remember ever being to a muggle zoo before. Sure, in the future he visited a couple of wizarding ones with Harry, Ron and Hermione, so it really gave him a poor idea of how muggles treated animals. Suddenly he spotted a cobra and went up to it. The Dursleys were very close. Raven figured now was the perfect opportunity to see whether or not he had Harry's Parseltongue abilities and if he did, then did he also have the mind link with Voldemort? And if so, then how to make sure that the man doesn't learn of Raven's secrets? Suddenly he saw a familiar herd of red haired people. His feelings to the Weasleys were double, on one hand he was no longer Raven Evans, the unfortunate boy who dared to be in every aspect better than Harry, but rather Harry Potter himself, the boy that would become their source of income.

Raven tried to make himself belief that the Weasleys were not responsible for what happened in their future, his past, but it was pretty hard to do so.

~flashback~

Creeping around the corner into the kitchen of Grimmauld place, Raven froze in place as heard voices from inside. This puzzled him, since he was sure that everyone was asleep. Not able yo stop himself, the 15 year old boy with silky black hair and vibrant purple eyes crept soundlessly, thanking Merlin for being able to wandlessly cast the invisibility spell. He entered the kitchen and listened to what was going on.

Albus Dubledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat there with a very strange expression on his face, one that Raven saw on Snape's face when the potions' master looked at his cousin. With him there were Percy Weasley, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley and Molly Weasley. He listened more closely when he realized that they were talking about Harry.

- Albus, surely there must be another way. Tell me you're joking.

- I'm afraid I'm not able to do that, Molly, dear. Potter is a danger to us.

- How can he be? After everything we did to make sure that he is in a perfect condition to do as you say!

- Molly, I've bound about 70% of the boy's magic and yet he was able to fend off Tom 5 times now. If he were to ever find out the truth about what happened on that Halloween, there will be no way to stop him. Therefore, miss Weasley, you will give him this potion. It will bind him to you. Mr Weasley, the amount of money we decided on will be transferred in no time.

~end of flashback~

Raven shuddered with disgust as he watched the red haired family. Yet he figured that the Weasleys were way better than the Dursleys and so he set his plan in motion, hoping that it would work out nicely and he would be able to leave Privet Drive for good... and soon...

[author's note: Just what has Raven planned for his relatives? People, please if you have a nice idea about it, let me know! And for Merlin's sake, at least one or two reviews would be nice! I'm still waiting for your thoughts about questions posed in the prologue!]