Chapter 2

A faint hiss could be heard from somewhere in the back of the small cupboard stirring the lightly slumbering child from sleep. Their green eyes peered into the dark depths of their room for the source. Fear began to seep in as sleepiness left. The new state of mind overcoming the biting cold of the small space. The boy raised the month bitten cloth a little higher so it covered up to his nose as he stared into the dark as the two voices spoke.

"You stupidly-hearty boy, just kill the child already." Hissed a somewhat harsh male voice.

"I am not going to kill a child." came the snapped if hushed response of another male voice sounding from the same area of the small space but softer in tone. "And why would I want to, more so for you?"

"Simple." The harsher voice took on a commanding tone. "It would do you some good and I stated that you should do so. Therefore it is implied that you must."

"You don't even have a body anymore and you're still this haughty?"

"I harness a noble and grand soul, brat."

"Two words I would never, let alone anyone else, would use to describe you."

The child began to shake with physical fear as the voices kept talking. They couldn't see them. Or feel them. Only hearing them and that was even more frightening to the young boy. His uncle Vernon had told him the devil would come to eat him and bring his freakish self to hell. Dudley had said something similar but called it the Boogie-man and the boy felt he would rather be taken by the Boogie-man then the one his uncle spoke of. Lesser of the evils. "Are you the Boogie-man?

"Did that brat refer to me as a cluster of nasal snot? You dare to mock the great Dark L-"

"You aren't allowed to speak of stuff the kid hasn't heard yet."

"Kill him and there would be no such situation."

"You are quite repetitive, you know that?"

"Dying is quite repetitive, not I."

"I agree only with the first state-"

"E-Excuse me..." The boy suddenly shrunk back at the deafening silence. It lasted for only a moment but it felt like someone dropped an anvil. The quiet was deafening. The lack of noise lasted for only a moment before it was broken by the softer male voice.

"You can hear us?"

A nod.

"Can you see us?"

A shake of the head.

"I didn't expect him to be able to communicate with us at all.." murmured the softer voice.

"I surely did not expect much from your young 'relation' either."

"Oh stuff it. Like you have rights to any higher worth when you're back to being a bodiless grouch."

"Watch your tongue, Pot-." The harsher voice cut off abruptly.

"He told you we couldn't use those names anymore, remember? And for your information, oh great one, I don't have a tongue at the moment."

"...Are you ghosts?" came the small voice of the sole living being within the small space. "Are you here to be my friend?" The hopeful tone in that voice halted any retort from the harsher voice and the softer one suddenly went quiet once more before speaking with what seemed like a sadden sigh.

"I...Harry, this is...er-"

"Very skillful."

"Shush, like you're any better with dealing with kids."

"I concur, do go on then."

"Ignore him, okay, Harry?"

"Is that my name?" There was an odd fumble of sounds that almost sounded like a mesh of words no child should know followed by a muttered "I stand corrected on your intelligence." which was directed to the softer voice. "I'm sorry...please don't be upset. I won't speak out of turn again!"

"It's ok...shh, it's okay Harry." The softer voice tried to soothe over stumbling words. "It's not your fault, and it's okay to ask questions. That's how you learn and no one should be faulted for that." Seeing the boy's panic settle down some into an unease that still wasn't caused by hearing two random voices, the softer voice continued on. "Yes, your name is Harry. Our names actually start the same, you and I."

"Oh?" there was an uplifted tone to Harry's voice at that. "What is your name, sir?"

"No sir needed, ok Harry? I'm not into that formal nonsense. My name is...Haden."

"Haden. It does! Harry and Haden. H.A!" Harry giggled softly under a small hand to keep the sound from reaching anyone upstairs. "What's the other's name? You don't sound alike to me."

"This is T-"

"Marvolo. Remember it, fear it," Haden coughed pointedly at hearing that but the harsher voice, now introduced as Marvolo ignored it. "and respect it, boy."

"O-oh ok, I will Marlo."

"Marvolo, and you will call me sir. I am not your fr-"

"Moving on!" Haden interrupted. "Do you know what the date is?"

Harry looked suddenly sad in the dim lighting that seeped in from the hallway light that was left on even during the night to help the other males within the house get to their midnight snacks easier. "Christmas is tomorrow, sir." Haden shot a glare at the mostly transparent billowy form of Voldemort beside him. "Oh wait, if you are here does that mean Santa is finally granting my wish?"

"What nonsense is this, boy? Do you truly believe in such pitiful lies?" came the sneered voice of Marvolo. "Those muggles have warped you, boy."

"Didn't we agree you'd be quiet and I'll talk to the kid?"

"Better to be off with him, Haden. It's a wonder how you managed to reach adulthood."

The addressed completely ignored the comment. "What was your wish, Harry?" Haden had recalled having quiet the pile up of wishes when he had been younger and living with the Dursleys without even the slightest knowledge of the kindness of others and future friends to be made. Being taken away from here to never come back or having a friend were the top two wishes he had. He knew he would be changing the timeline but if he could manage it, he would get his younger self out of here. Dumbledore may not have been able to open Hogwarts doors for him during the summers but Haden would make sure there was a place little Harry could go to that was just as safe as Hogwarts. "I promise we are here to fulfill it."

"No we are not." Marvolo hissed in anger.

"Whatever it is, I promise to fulfill it, no matter what Harry. No child should have to suffer the way you do and if I can help grant one wish then I will."

"Suffer? The boy locked himself in a closet for a pity party for a mere lack of friends. You spoiled entitled brat. You will not bend for a whiny child. Your intelligence is lower than even I thought."

"I know about your life as a child, and it was bad, but you never knew about mine. So shut up! I'm keeping to my word and ya know what," Haden redirected his attention onto his younger self. "Harry, I promise you to the depths of my soul to fulfill your wish, so mote it be."

A sudden reddish purple light filled the small room; basking everything in a glow that seemed to warm with the promise made before it gathered into the middle of the small space into a ball. The ball separated; one half encasing the boy like a blanket before sinking in and the other shooting straight into Haden; making his billowy form come to a near solid state of a human figure before fading and leaving his form as it was upon first coming to the past without a body. Marvolo's angered words were finally hearable once the magic was completed. The ghost of the most feared Dark Lord of all time, past and future, was seething with rage. It was felt as the room dropped in degrees making Harry shiver and clutch the thin moth bitten sheet closer to his small body.

"Do you realize what you have just done, you foolish, stupid, brainless, boy!?"

"Magic?"

"If I were able to kill you this instant-"

"But you can't, so moot point." Haden ignored the angered growl. "What is your strongest wish, Harry? I gave my word to you to keep it." He watched as the small boy, barely recalling how he himself was in this point of time, curled in further upon himself but looked from each corner of the room dubbing the voices to have taken a side each.

Harry definitely looked scared after the outburst Marvolo gave. And was still giving as the room fluxed between a searing cold to its normal temperature. The child gripped the sheet tighter and looked at where he believed Haden's voice was coming from. That Gryffindor courage clustered up within him. "To have parents that will take me away from here."

Haden would of blinked at that in surprise if currently possible. He had honestly completely forgotten that was one his sole strongest wishes as a kid. He had years upon years to come to terms with lacking parents and he had found others to fill the void they had left. Before he could really grasp it while staring at the boy he heard his name being whispered chillingly.

"Do you even realize the depth of the vow you placed upon us?" came the quietly hissed question it was almost terrifying how calm Marvolo sounded given how the man-ghost usually was.

"A magical vow." Haden stated more automatically than anything. He glanced to Marvolo, better to view the man as that than be constantly reminded of just who he had been. "I know what I'm doing," he oddly left like he had lied upon saying that which annoyed him and caused Haden to give an annoyed add-on of, "and it wasn't on you Highness, just me."

"Foolish and fully uneducated indeed." The body-less form of Voldemort sneered in tone alone. "You, foolish imbecile, made a soul vow. To which our souls are bound even after death thanks to your lackluster knowledge when making a deal with the entity of Death of things."

"And you're mad because?"

"If you do not fulfill the vow, my soul will cease to exist along with your wretched one."

"That's fine since I'm gonna fulfill it!"

"Your idiocy is astounding."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You promised to get the boy's parents when you are a bodiless soul just as you so like to remind myself of."

Silence.

"Oh."

Before anything else could be said the sound of feet coming down the stairs halted any further conversation. Haden nudged Harry not to worry and get some sleep before daylight broke. The child did after a few more words of reassurance and promise to be there when he awoke.

"We're gonna need bodies…"

"B-bodies?" Harry stuttered unsurely; nearly dropping a soapy dish back into the water filled sink. His Aunt had him clean the dishes after everyone had eaten their fill. Well everyone apart from him. He was allowed to eat if she deemed the dishes clean enough. His green eyes glanced to where he last heard Marvolo's voice. Marvolo hadn't been happy when he had heard his aunt say that. Making a comment to Haden about filthy muggles, how dare they and something about showing them their true place. Harry could honestly say he liked Haden better. Over the two weeks the ghost, lost souls as Haden put it, young Harry had come to have a better understanding of each of them. In similar terms Haden was nice and Marvolo was scary.

"Not human!" Haden clarified. "Like umm...maybe a Nagini?"

"What's a Nagini?"

"One would think you were trying to be humorous, Haden." Marvolo drawled.

"At least you got my joke."

"I am brimming with amusement, I assure you." Their tone was far from sounding as such.

Haden didn't bother to respond to that. "Nagini was- hey wait! Why can I say her name but not the other ones?" Silence. "Grump. It's okay to admit you have no idea, you know. Anyways, Nagini is a snake and I uh, kind of knew someone who was able to, er, borrow her body for awhile while they were ghosts. Like me and Marvolo are."

"Oh…" Harry tilted his head a little bit. His green eyes glanced to the window just beyond the kitchen sink he could barely reach as he washed the dishes Aunt told him to do after breakfast. "So...um, we just have to find a snake then?"

"Yes, but two snakes. I don't think one body hosting two souls would handle it very well. Kind of like umm..."

"Filling a small one cup size jar with one cup of water and another cup of oil. It will overfill and one will have more than the other as they cannot merge, even when sharing the same container."

"Er, yes like what Marvolo said. Are there any garden snakes in the garden still? I know it's winter but…"

"During the warmer weather Aunt has me help her garden and I've seen a few go to the same place by the shed. Maybe they sleep there?" Harry added hopefully as he glanced over his shoulder to where he thought the two ghosts would be. It was hard to tell where they were within the kitchen as they kept moving around. Their voices would change location of where it sounded from time to time but as long as they didn't leave young Harry felt okay.

"Snakes hibernate I believe so they should be there, yes!" Haden said happily, bringing a beaming smile to Harry's face. "You stay here Harry, me and Marvolo will be back. Just leave the backyard door open a bit for us to get in, okay?"

The smile faded into an unsure expression. "Promise you will come back…?"

"I promised upon my soul."

The two ghosts found the spot by the shed easily enough. They looked down at the coiled up bodies of snakes not saying a word to one another. Nothing but soft hisses tinting the otherwise silent shed. None of the snakes seemed able to see them but their presence was felt by the telling sign of discomfort the pile of snakes gave off. Haden looked from the snakes to Marvolo and back again. He had no idea how to possess anything, let alone a snake. And the time with Nagini wasn't quite the same thing as this. His ghostly form shifted in the air where it hovered.

"So...how do we do this?"

"Admitting to that dim brain of yours, are you now?"

"Not all of us have a thing for taking over the bodies of snakes. Most prefer to have a girlfriend."

"What would your mother think of that crude mind of yours."

"Wonder away, we both will never know thanks to you. Now, you gonna tell me how to do this or what?"

"We can not use this method forever, you are aware. A human body is-"

"Out of the question. I am not killing anyone!"

"I see your humbleness has returned."

"Shut up. We aren't gonna kill anyone just to have their body." If he had a tongue Haden would have made a show of wiping it clean on his sleeve or something. "Ugh, that sounded so wrong."

"There is no right or wrong." Marvolo stated. "If you have such issue with a living body-"

"Please shut up."