Author's Note: This is my first Harry Potter story. This will have Light Side bashing. Sorry. But I'm not sure how it's going to go but I look forward to it. Also, no romances! At least not at the beginning, maybe when Harry gets to his fourth or fifth year. We'll see. This is a Dark Harry story. I hope you enjoy this story! This is just the prologue; I'll hopefully do an actual story for Year One at a later date. Any constructive criticisms or thoughts would help.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the wizarding world.

Summary:

Harry Potter was no Gryffindor Golden boy. His family knew this. Severus and his Slytherins knew this. Tom knew this. Albus and the rest of the school did not. Severus was not Albus's faithful spy. His Slytherins knew this. Tom knew this. Harry knew this. Albus and his Order did not know this. Tom was no longer Voldemort. Severus knew this. His followers knew this. Harry knew this. Albus and the rest of the world did not know this.

One man playing chess fails to realize that not all of the pieces on his side are his. And the game ends differently.

Snake in Lion's Fur

For Harry, it begins with a realization when he was six. Those wonderful accidents he can make happen...his family can't do that. Which begged the question: Could he control this gift of his? The answer, a week later, was yes. And a beautiful, terrible, awful plan came to mind. So, over the next several months, he was meek. Obedient. Kept his eyes down. Never caused his aunt or uncle to have reason to be upset with him. And while he did so, he practiced his gifts. By the time he was nearing seven, he knew he was ready to put his plan into action. He couldn't wait.

Severus Snape has always trusted his instincts. They were the reason he was even still alive after all. So, during one of the Order meetings he nodded when Albus said the child was safe and sound. Not to worry about him. For good measure, he even added a grumbling spout of 'Spoiled brat' into the mix. Then, a few days later during a break, he went to the location he was sure the boy would be. That harpy Petunia's place. With an untraceable 'notice-me-not' charm, he placed himself across the street. And he watched. He watched as the child was forced to do physical labor at six, things he wouldn't even allow a teenager do. He witnessed the verbal abuse that also came and the time when it got a bit more physical than he liked. Not to mention the boy was malnourished and being starved. Severus would have stepped in, but something held him back. A little voice. His instincts. The look on the boy's face whenever he looked at any of his 'family' members when they were turned away from him. He watched over the next few months every now and then. Watched the boy pull off the perfect act of meek and submissive to keep his family from being suspicious. He tried- once- to see into the boy's mind. He didn't see anything, but he felt a tentative push to his own. Then the cartoon image of a naked goat doing the hula was pushed into the forefront of the boy's mind. Severus snorted at the image, wondering what on earth had possessed the child to use such a thought. And in his amusement and intrigue, he continued the watch.

When the child was seven, he understood.

He witnessed, with sadistic satisfaction through the eyes of his animagus form- a false widow spider- as the boy pinned his family to their couch and set quite a few sentimental things on fire. He watched how the boy relished in their fear of the flames, and the, rather mild, pain he would then inflict on them. He watched as the boy set down new rules that they couldn't argue with, lest they lose more than what they had. He would have three meals a day. He would be paid a very generous allowance for the chores he did and had done since he was four. He would be allowed to come and go as he pleased- which meant they shouldn't be stupid and lock the door if it was late. He would take Dudley's second bedroom without argument. He would receive clothes that fit him, and not their whale child's hand-me-downs. They would never lay another hand, belt, pan, or anything else on him. They would give him the box of items in the attic that belonged to his mother. And they would stop telling people he was a problem child. They would tell anyone that asked that he had gotten help.

But, because he was feeling magnanimous, he would continue to take care of the garden and the cooking for the family. He would even continue to keep his grades lower than their stupid son's, even, so as to not draw any unwanted attention. They had no choice but to agree to his terms. And as Severus made to leave, he noticed how the boy's eyes found his eight legged form. And he knew, somehow, that the boy knew that he was not what he seemed. Knew the boy had recognized his aura to be the same one that had tried to get into his mind those weeks ago. The one that has been near by out of curiosity for months. When the boy told the filthy muggles that he be leaving for the next few hours and to remember what he could do to him, Severus understood the invitation and allowed his eight-legged form to fall into the boy's hair as he passed. The muggles were too terrified to look at the seven-year-old as he left.

It was silent for several minutes as they walked from Number 4 Privet Drive. And once they entered the empty park, far from the nearly nonexistent wards, the boy headed for a small grove of trees and underbrush that children and teens usually avoided. In the center of the clearing and well hidden from prying eyes, he allowed the boy to set him down. "You can reveal yourself now." the boy said with an empty face, save the curiosity that burned deep in Avada eyes. Severus returned to himself, and his black eyes locked onto the boy's as they studied each other blankly. The swirl of emotions in the boy's eyes not quite able to be hidden. Not yet. It was as though they understood each other in a sense. But that it wasn't quite what it was supposed to be. Like something was missing between them. "Who are you? Did you do that with magic? What even was that?" he asked the man curiously. Not bothered by this unknown stranger alone with him in a secluded area where bad things normally happened to little boys.

"You can call me Severus, I suppose. I did do that with magic. It is called an animagus transformation." Severus answered. Green eyes began to glow slightly at the confirmation that magic existed, and Severus felt his magic thrum under his skin in anticipation.

"Can you teach me more, Severus? Can you tell me things that I want to know? Answer whatever questions I might have?" the boy asked with excitement and a burning desire for the answers.

"I believe I can, little one. I believe I can indeed. However-" he halted the boy from his excitement as he made a decision. "You must accept that there will be things you do not want to hear. You'll need to accept that I am not a good person. But I'm not the worst. You need to understand that there are plans in the making for you child, ones that can't suffer you to go against the path laid out for you. You must accept that you will be required to cheat, lie, and kill to hide your truest nature from the world for your own survival." he informed the boy.

"I accept it." The boy-who-lived replied with such conviction that Severus believed him. And that thrum of anticipation built. The pieces on the chessboard began to shift.

Years passed since the day things had changed. Severus told Harry the truth about his past, his title as the Boy-Who-Lived. The power he held. How he had 'defeated' the Dark Lord that had gone after the boy and his family that Halloween night. He had even told the boy why the Dark Lord had gone after them, curious of his reaction. He had been pleasantly surprised. What Severus had expected, was for the boy to be furious and bemoan his situation. He had been placed with disgusting and abusive muggles, after all. Instead, the boy simply replied:

'It was a war. They knew the risks of getting involved. They knew death was always going to be an option and still chose to have a child that would potentially be orphaned or targeted. They were the ones who allowed for the situation to be possible. Albus was the one who made it happen. You two were only trying to win the war.'

After that had been settled, things had gone even more smoothly. He trained the boy in wandless and silent casting, knowing that the boy could pull it off even more efficiently than he had when he had first threatened the sorry excuse of his family. He taught the boy how to use occlumency as well as how to create genuine, false memories to trick anyone- such as Albus- who might look into his mind. Harry had been quick to accept that upon learning it was a possibility.

When Harry was nine, two years after their first, proper meeting, Harry told him of the voice in his head that could belong to none other than his Lord. And with that, came teaching Harry the proper etiquette and everything that he would need to know about his role as Lord Potter when it came time. How to best wield that power he would have. Harry soaked up all of the knowledge that he was taught and his magic only grew stronger, just as dark as Severus's and Tom's own. The boy's ability to speak parseltongue was also useful, and Tom's voice had begun teaching him how to use parsel magic without having to have a snake around to rely on speaking the language.

They discussed the plans Albus had for him, including but not limited to: Putting Harry through tests while in Hogwarts to see if he was molded as he should be. Having Harry in the sphere of the Weasley family, a heavily light oriented family with close ties and obedience to Albus. This would be through giving Harry's money to the matriarch Molly Weasley. Having Harry befriend the youngest boy, Ronald, on the Hogwarts express so Ronald could steer him from the 'wrong sort'. And apparently promising Harry's hand in marriage to the only girl, Ginerva. Severus had spat that last bit out with utter revulsion. In addition, Hagrid would be the one to fetch Harry and tell him he was a wizard while also spouting how wonderful Albus was, how evil anything Slytherin was, and how Voldemort was a Slytherin and had tried to kill Harry. He would also have Harry befriending a muggle-born witch with a high respect and devotion for authority figures that would make sure Harry followed the clues laid out for him by Albus.

Harry was furious about all of it, but ultimately accepted that he would have to 'Play Along' until such a time as it was safe for him to reveal himself. The Dark Lord and Severus told him it would be safe for him once they had brought the Dark Lord back and Harry was strong enough to protect himself. Then he'd be free. By the time Harry was 10, he was proficient in the wielding of his magic with and without a wand or verbal incantation. He was also quite different from how Albus wanted him to look. With three years of meals and not being beaten, while he would be smaller than other children his age, he wasn't completely malnourished any longer. His hair was also longer and tamer than the Potter hair and he was much healthier.

This led to Severus showing the boy how to apply an undetectable, near permanent glamour to give him the appearance of the sick and weak-willed boy that was a carbon copy of James, looking for his 'savior's' approval that Albus was expecting. Only Harry, Severus, or Tom could remove it or see through it. And Tom's knowledge had given them an ancient parsel spell that would disguise Harry's magic as light with only a familiar blot of darkness that belonged to Tom.

It was the May before Harry's first year that Severus had to leave Harry. He had to prepare for that first year after all and ensure that Albus remained unaware of Severus's involvement with Harry. However, he did make it so that the Dursley's would be unable to reveal anything of Harry's true nature and such to anyone who attempted to use legilimency on them while also being unable to say anything. Harry had also been made aware by Severus that Albus wanted Severus to treat Harry like he was his father's copy and hold a grudge against Harry for James bullying him during their school years and 'Stealing Lily' from him. Somewhere along the way Albus had fallen under the impression- along with many others- that Severus was in love with the woman. They could use that to their advantage. Harry understood and promised to 'act as though Severus Snape was the most evil thing in Hogwarts' as Albus expected. He would also come up with a way for them to keep in touch though out the year in case anything unexpected happened. Little did they know that many things would be unexpected in the year ahead.

Author's Note: And there we go. It was something that stuck in my head and was one of the firsts drafts of a story I had ever made. I hope you enjoyed and let me know your thoughts. Please no flames though, those aren't helpful in the slightest. Thanks!