Hey everyone! :) I know it's been a while, I took a year hiatus from writing, but this story has been on my mind since about a year, and I finally got the time and energy to start writing it. This story will have ten chapters, I am currently working on chapter seven.

There will be some violence, humiliation, and corporal punishment.

Please check out my other HP stories if you haven't done so already! :)

"I'm starving!"

Remus Lupin, the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, barely had time to open the door before a small boy with wild, brown curls and an untidy looking Gryffindor uniform came scrambling into his private quarters.

"Sirius…", the man sighed, "shouldn't you be in bed already?"

The boy grinned, exposing teeth that looked like they could need a good brushing, "it's not even nine yet", he informed his guardian then, "and I wanted to say hi to you."

Remus could not help it, he smiled back at the boy, even though he knew he was being too lenient with the thirteen-year-old, "well, since you are here now…what would you like to eat?"

Sirius quickly rattled off the names of his favorite candies, and Remus sighed again, "maybe something that isn't sugar on top of sugar?", he suggested, just like he had many times before, and the boy laughed, "it's for dessert, Remus! Who eats healthy desserts?"

Remus did not like the fact that he could hardly argue that, and watched somewhat passively how Sirius went into his pantry and grabbed a few snacks for himself.

"How were classes today?", he asked the boy, who was busy shoving food in his mouth, not bothering with any manners, "did you behave in Potions?"

Sirius frowned, never stopping to eat, "yeah, I guess", he managed to say between bites,

"Snape's being a jerk like always. Homework was impossibly hard. Like, who does he…"

"Does that mean you didn't do your Potions homework? Again?", Remus interrupted him, "you know that…"

"Of course I did it!", Sirius knew he was lying, but there was no way in hell he would tell

Remus the truth- which was, that he either didn't do his work or copied it from Colin Creevey, "you gotta chill, Remus. I already did all this stuff back then, remember? It doesn't really matter."

"It matters if you want to keep your cover, Sirius", Remus felt like a broken record saying it, but it was important that Sirius understood, "the more attention you draw to yourself by getting in trouble, being late for class, not doing your work, the higher the chances that…"

"I know that!", Sirius looked annoyed now, "but what's the point of doing all this work and not having any fun? I'm only staying thirteen til they find that rat Pettigrew, it's not like I actually need to get good grades to get into fourth grade next year!"

"We don't know how long it is going to take to find Pettigrew", Remus reminded him for the thousands time, "and until then…"

"Until then I keep pretending to be your nephew whose parents died recently, yeah", Sirius rolled his eyes, taking another bite of the pumpkin pastry he had taken from the pantry, "just…let me have some fun, yes? I'm not harming anyone."

Lupin did not bother to tell the boy that he had gotten another complaint from McGonagall just yesterday about Sirius' behavior- and the fact that Gryffindor had started losing a chunk of house points since Sirius had joined the third graders of Gryffindor under the fake name Orion Lemarc, his alleged nephew.

It had been Dumbledore's idea to hide Sirius from the ministry and the dementors in Hogwarts after he had spent some time at Grimmauld's Place over the summer. Remus had quickly agreed to Dumbledore's suggestion after he had seen Sirius' behavior over the summer- his newfound freedom paired with having access to alcohol and having a lot of unprocessed anger and hatred about being stuck in Azkaban for so long had not been a good mix- and most days when Remus had visited Sirius at Grimmauld's Place, he had found his friend blacked out drunk in his unmade bed, the house a mess, or him having screaming matches with Kreacher in the kitchen, throwing bottles at the house elf.

They had had to change Sirius' appearance a bit, making sure Snape or some of the older teachers would not recognize him. It wasn't much of a change, just a few more freckles on his nose, making his hair a bit curlier and his face a tiny bit rounder.

There had been quite a few times lately when Remus had regretted agreeing to Dumbledore's plan, though- being Sirius' guardian was difficult. Being his best friend had been difficult already at times, but parenting him turned out to be an impossible task.

Sirius only had one goal, apparently- and that was, to have as much fun as he could have while being a student again.

He barely did his work, he couldn't care less to win Gryffindor any house points, he was late for classes, his hair and uniform always a mess, and bedtime was whenever Sirius decided to be tired enough to sleep.

Nevertheless, since he also knew how to amusingly tell a story, had witty comebacks for the teachers, pranks and clever ideas how to make the lessons entertaining, he had quickly become quite popular with most of the Gryffindor students.

Most of them…

"The tryouts for the Quidditch team are next week", Remus now said, trying to change the subject, he hated arguments, "are you thinking of giving it a go? You could be on the team with Harry, wouldn't that be nice?"

"It…would", Sirius had to admit, looking down, "but…uhm…you know I'm not the best

Quidditch player, Remus."

"Nonsense! You were a fine player back then, remember how you and James would play for hours during the summer? You should really try out; I'd cheer you on at every game."

Sirius had to smile, a warm feeling spreading in his stomach, "I know you would", he rushed to hug Remus, his emotions suddenly overtaking him, something that often happened now that he was a boy again, and Remus hugged him back, enjoying the peaceful, happy moment between them.

"Maybe talk to Harry about the tryouts", Remus gave Sirius another quick squeeze, "he can help you, and he would love to, as well."

Harry was, besides Remus and Dumbledore, the only one who knew about Sirius' transformation. He had been allowed to share the secret with Ron and Hermione, but no one else knew.

"Yeah…I could do that", Sirius' smile seemed forced now, and he stepped back from the hug, "it's just…uhm…", he didn't know how to tell Remus the truth, the real reason he did not want to try out for the Quidditch team, knowing that the Lupin would not understand.

"It's okay to be nervous to try something new", Remus assured him, not understanding because how could he?

"I'll talk to Harry", Sirius was suddenly eager to end this conversation, the warm feeling in his stomach gone, now replaced by quite an uneasy one, "I…should go. It's late."

Remus laughed, "I've been saying that!", he hugged him again, "see you tomorrow in class, Sirius. Sleep well."

"You…too", Sirius stuffed some candy in his pockets and headed for the door, "see ya tomorrow, Moony."

And with that, he slipped out of the door, carefully making his way back to the dorms. He had been caught outside of bedtime a bit too often lately, and there was no need to get into more trouble right now.

He was lucky enough to make it back without being seen, and when he crawled into bed, he heard Colin's raspy voice whispering from the bed next to him, "Orion! Where have you been again?"

"Why? Did anyone ask about me?", Sirius grinned into the dark, not bothering to whisper.

"Aurelius was here."

His grin instantly vanished, "he has to, as Prefect."

"He asked where you were", Colin went on like he hadn't even heard Sirius' sarcastic comment, "I told him you felt a bit sick and went to the bathroom."

"Did he believe that?"

Colin shrugged, which Sirius could not see in the darkness, "I'm not sure. I don't think he went to check, though."

"Yeah…", Sirius did not need to ask why Colin thought that Aurelius would not go check if he was sick in the bathroom, and pushed his head further down into his pillow, "thanks for…uhm…helping me out, Colin."

"I didn't want you to get in trouble again", Colin replied quietly, "Aurelius seemed kinda angry last time, and he…"

Sirius yawned loudly, Aurelius was the last person he wanted to think about right now, "I'm super tired, goodnight", he interrupted Colin, and yawned again, just for good measure, "thanks again."

Colin mumbled a quick goodnight as well and minutes later, Sirius could hear him starting to snore softly.

Now everyone in the third-grade dorms was asleep- everyone except Sirius, who stared at the ceiling above him, his eyes wide open.

He barely got any sleep that night.

"Good morning, Mylord."

He didn't respond, the word Mylord sounding like mockery suddenly in his ears, even though he had never told the house elves to call him anything besides that.

"The…breakfast for the Lord", the house elf babbled, putting the tray down on the table, his body shaking slightly, "en…enjoy, Mylord."

"Get out."

The small elf just bowed his head, and then silently left the room, used to the rude and ungrateful treatment of his Master. All of the elves were terrified of him, even though they knew that they didn't have to fear him anymore, technically.

Technically…

Voldemort waited until the elf had left, he never bothered to learn their names, so for him, one of them was like the other.

Breakfast was delicious as always- but still, he had to force himself to eat.

The only sound in the big dining hall was his knife scraping his plate, other than that, it was silent. Just how he liked it.

After he had finished eating, he went upstairs to the library. Slytherin Castle was huge- there were about a dozen bedrooms, several sitting rooms, one of them with a marble stone fireplace, a library, an inside pool in the basement, an owlery, an astronomy tower which overlooked a lake and the Quidditch field, and bathrooms that felt more like a spa.

He had house elves that cleaned and cooked for him, who obeyed every single one of his wishes, even if he asked for a whiskey at two in the morning- and yet…

He closed his eyes, forcing himself not to think about it, even though it was all he thought about. All day. Every day, since Gryffindor had…

"I need a drink", he told no one in particular, deciding the library could wait. He had become obsessed with the idea of finding a book, finding anything that would reverse the spell.

That would turn him into who he was again.

An anxious little house elf brought him a glass of bourbon, not commenting on the fact that it was his third glass already- and it wasn't even ten in the morning yet.

He drank the bourbon without looking at the glass, exhaling as he could feel the liquor filling up his insides, warming him.

Voldemort dropped the glass where he stood, a petty habit he had started a while ago, knowing that the bare-footed elves would have to step in the glass to clean it, and made his way to the library.

It was all he did now. Sleep, eat, drink, read, repeat.

He never left the castle, even though he could have. But, where to go? Without money, without a job, without…

He passed a window, and stopped to look outside for a few seconds. It was November now, and winter had come early this year. At night, it was freezing- and a few days ago, there had been the first snow.

The weather was even more reason to stay where he was, at least for now. It would be a suicide mission to go out there in these temperatures, and he probably wouldn't even make it to the next village.

He could see his reflection in the window, the curly brown hair, the high cheekbones, the brown eyes, and his nose with tiny freckles on them. He was no older than nineteen- still basically somewhat of a teenager, a few years older than the Voldemort Harry and Ginny had met in the chamber.

Another thing that Gryffindor had taken from him.

He smiled bitterly, turning away from the window and turning for the stairs.

Slytherin Castle had been built around the same time as Hogwarts, and it annoyed him to no end that the school was not as far from him as he would have liked. In fact, when he went to the astronomy tower, he could see Hogwarts in the near distance.

The windows were bright and open, but for him, they could have had iron bars all across them, it would not have made a difference.

He was a prisoner in his own house.

And that, that was the worst of it all.

"I've heard you want to try out for the Quidditch team?", Harry winked at him, and Sirius rolled his eyes, "Remus told you?"

"He did", Harry had to laugh when he saw the look on Sirius' face, "what's wrong? I think it should be fun. There's quite a few Gryffindors who want to try out this time. With Fred getting injured at the last game, and Oliver Wood being out longer than we all thought, it's definitely needed."

"Is…Wood not coming back at all, then this year?", Sirius asked, hoping he did not sound too obviously hopeful.

"Most likely not, no", Harry replied, "he's still at Mungo's, but he is getting better. It just takes a super long time."

Oliver Wood had developed a quite aggressive form of Dragon Pox in the beginning of October and had been at St. Mungo's hospital ever since.

The Gryffindor team had been without any real leadership and had consequently lost all their games in October, until they had recently gotten a new team captain.

"I'm really glad Aurelius was able to step up", Harry went on, "he's been an amazing captain so far. The tryouts should be interesting with him managing the team now."

Interesting is a good word, Sirius thought, his hopes of Oliver Wood returning having been crushed.

"You should sign up for the tryouts, and there's a meeting tonight in the Common Room for everyone who's interested", Harry now said, taking Sirius' silence for agreement, "Ron is going to try out as well, he's hoping to replace Fred while he's recovering."

Sirius mumbled something, regretting that he had not told Remus right away he wasn't interested in playing Quidditch. Now Harry wanted him to try out as well, and it would be difficult to lie his way out of this one with both of them teaming up on him.

The thought of all the time he would waste at Quidditch practice, the amount of exercise he would have to do, the weekends he would have to spend competing in tournaments instead of sleeping in doing what he wanted…

No thank you.

"Yeah, I'll sign up", he finally said, forcing himself to grin, "might be fun."

I'll make sure they never pick me.

With that in mind, Sirius showed up for the meeting that same night- late, as he usually was and found himself a corner spot on a couch near Harry and Ron.

The Common Room was crowded that night, and with the fire burning and the students sitting around on the sofas and armchairs, most of them holding mugs with tea or hot chocolate, quietly whispering to each other, it was quite the cozy atmosphere.

Aurelius was standing by the fireplace, George Weasley next to him. They both had been discussing something between them apparently, and now Aurelius went to face the students again, the usual look of determination and confidence on his handsome face.

Sirius immediately had to suppress a scowl, glad to be somewhat hidden in the corner.

He disliked Aurelius for many reasons- but the arrogant way the fifth grader always seemed to act like he owned Hogwarts was certainly his most irritating trait.

"I would like to thank everyone again for signing up to try out for Gryffindor", Aurelius began, his voice calm, with an air of authority that he most likely had inherited from his parents, "George and I have just gone over the list, we wanted to make sure we are not missing anyone. I am quite pleased to announce that eighteen of you have decided to put their name on the list."

Usually, there would have been whispering now, but whenever Aurelius spoke, there was attentive silence.

"Now, there are different positions to try out for, as well as some positions that will be available temporarily- I am thinking of the role of the Beater, which has to be replaced until Fred Weasley is able to play again."

And what about you, aren't you just Wood's replacement?

Sirius did not dare to say his thoughts out loud though, knowing very well how that would be received.

"Furthermore, I am going to restructure our reserve team, so even if you don't make it on the team, you still have the chance to play as a reserve player. We will have practices together mostly, and I have decided to have private training for all the Chasers and Beaters as well."

Aurelius mentioned some other changes and improvements he was going to make, and Sirius had to grudgingly admit that they were certainly well thought out and quite smart.

The others seemed to think similarly because when Aurelius finally finished, there was a buzz of excitement in the room.

"Now, I am going to ask everyone which position they'd like to play for, George is going to keep track of everyone's answers. If you are not sure yet or would like to try out for more than one position, please mention that. We are going to start with having all the Seeker's try out in three days. If you already are on the team, I am still expecting you to try out."

This was uncommon, but again, no one dared to protest.

One by one the Gryffindor's shared what position they wanted to play, and Sirius grew more and more restless. He did not want to be here, he did not give a damn about Quidditch, and this was just stupid…

"Seeker", he heard Harry say next to him, and then all eyes were on him, and he hated the fact that he blushed slightly.

"I…I'm not sure yet", he tried his best to sound nonchalant, "any position, really."

Whatever…

Aurelius' eyes hardened, "any position? Does that mean you would like to try out four times?"

"Four times?", Sirius repeated, not understanding, "I thought it was just one time."

He could hear some snorts of amusement around him, Harry, Ron and a few others had to laugh, the only one who did not seem to find his answer funny was- Aurelius.

"There are four different positions in any Quidditch game- Chaser, Beater, Keeper, and Seeker", Aurelius' voice was dripping with sarcasm, "and every team has seven players."

"I…know that."

"You do? Could have fooled me."

More snorts of laughter, and Sirius' face grew hot. He hated nothing more than being embarrassed, and hadn't he known before this was a bad idea?

"You know what, never mind. I am good. Don't really care for Quidditch anyways."

"Shocking", the irony in Aurelius' voice was cutting now, "just like you don't really care about your grades, or your behavior, right?"

He stood up, his mouth suddenly dry.

Fuck you.

If Aurelius hadn't been the Founder's son, or Prefect, or the Quidditch Captain, he would have happily punched him in the face now- and even knowing that he'd get expelled in a heartbeat for that, the temptation was still strong. Very strong.

"Take my name off your list", he managed to say between clenched teeth, talking to George Weasley now, ignoring Aurelius, "I am not interested."

He headed for the door, doing his best to ignore the whispers and the stares. He had done again what Remus had warned him about- drawing attention to himself.

The anger was increasing with every step he took, and it gave him some satisfaction to slam the door behind him as he left the Common Room and went into the hallway leading to the dorms.

Fucking prick, who do you think you are, damn spoiled Founder's son, I will…

He was too angry to hear the footsteps quickly approaching behind him at first, but then someone grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, forcefully enough to almost make him stumble.

"You put your name on the list, so you will try out", Aurelius' voice was basically icy now, "is it really that difficult for you to commit to anything?"

Sirius pushed himself away from the older Gryffindor, the anger inside him boiling, making him forget who he was speaking to, "what's it to you what I'm doing? Go fuck yourself, you…"

The slap to his face was hard, but not unexpected.

They were both trembling now, Sirius from the pain, Aurelius from fury, "I'll have you tell George Weasley by tomorrow morning what position you want to try out for", the look on his face was pure contempt, "and I expect you to show up on time for the tryouts."

"I don't want to try out."

"I do not care."

Aurelius gave him one last, hard look, "you won't make the team anyways, of course- but you will commit to trying out, I am not having students just put their names on a list for the fun of it."

"Whatever."

"Eloquent as always", Aurelius turned around, the smile around his lips sardonic, "I'll see you at the tryouts."

And then he was gone, leaving Sirius fuming, his cheek hurting from the blow, alone in the dimly lit hallway.

He forced back tears, carefully touching his injured face. Hating Aurelius more than ever, he slowly sat down, his back against the wall.

For a few minutes, all he did was stare against the wall- and then Aurelius' words came back to him, echoing in his mind like a never-ending nightmare.

Just like you don't really care about your grades, or your behavior, right?

Is it really that difficult for you to commit to anything?

You won't make the team anyways, of course.

And for some reason, that last part suddenly made him sit up straighter, the desire for revenge overwhelming.

"Won't make the team anyways…we'll see about that."

He had been in the library all night, reading, researching, and yet again- nothing.

Nothing.

It was ten thirty-six in the morning now, he only knew that because there was a huge clock right above the small fireplace in the library, but the day? The date? He had no clue.

Every day felt the same to him anyway, it did not matter.

"My…mylord?"

He turned his head, groaning inwardly from the sudden dizziness that caused.

I need to sleep.

"What is it, elf?"

He was too tired to even throw his wine bottle at the shivering house elf, and that was definitely a warning sign.

"A…visitor, Mylord."

"I don't want to see anyone. Get out."

The house elf swallowed, and it was obvious that he would rather be anywhere else than where he was at this moment, but he bravely stood his ground, "he…he said the Lord would say that, just like the Lord did the last three times, and he said to not…"

He cursed, standing up slowly, the room spinning at bit at first, "who the fuck is it?"

"Master Salazar Slytherin, Mylord."

Of course.

He cursed again, his lack of sleep combined with his hangover making him more irritated than he already was, but he knew that Slytherin was annoyingly persistent and would likely show up the next day, and the day after, just like he had before if he didn't see him now.

"Send him up, tell him he has five minutes", he hissed through clenching teeth, sitting back down at the table, "and hurry."

The house elf was already at the door, more than grateful to have escaped without getting punched, slapped, or having something thrown at him.

Not even a minute later he returned, Salazar Slytherin behind him. The Founder was wearing an elegant dark blue coat, his curly bronze hair was falling on his shoulders, and he smiled, like he always did.

How can anyone smile this fucking much?

"Good morning, Tom", he looked at him, his face open and friendly, "how are you today?"

"What the hell do you want again?", he hated small talk, and the only thing he hated more than small talk was small talk with Salazar Slytherin.

"Well, I have not seen you since October, and the last couple times I was here, the elves told me you were busy."

"I still am."

The Founder sighed, walking over to the table, eyeing the almost empty bottle of wine critically, "have you been up all night?"

"I'm busy, Slytherin. Get to the point", he knew he was rude, but he did not care. He was getting a headache, and his research had been a waste of time, and he hated having company, especially from the always cheerful Slytherin.

"Have you been outside lately?", Salazar took a seat across from him at the wooden table which was covered in books and magazines, "you look a little pale."

Godfuckingdamnit!

"What. Do. You. Want?"

"I am asking you how you are doing, Tom."

"I'm good", he replied curtly, "I have not been outside since it is quite cold. Anything else you want?"

Salazar's smile turned soft, "I know this has been difficult for you…", he began, but Tom had had enough now, "you find the way out by yourself, I am sure", he stood up, "have a…"

"Tom. Please", the Founder sighed, looking him straight in the eyes, "I'm worried about you. Every time I come here to see you, you seem more and more…withdrawn. Have you thought about college at all? There are a lot of good colleges in the area, and I told you we would cover the tuition. And why don't you go out later and walk over to Hogsmeade? It's beautiful outside. You really should…"

"I need you to leave", Tom interrupted him, way harsher than intended, "I already told you I am not going to college, and if Gryffindor thinks he can just pay for some fucking classes and that way I forgive him, he has lost his mind. There's just one thing I want from him, and he's refusing to give it back to me, and he knows that. I am done having the same exact conversation with you every other week."

"I…want to help you, Tom."

"And would you stop calling me that?", anyone else he would have already punched in the face, but this was Salazar Slytherin, his ancestor, the only person in the world he had a little bit respect for just because he was his heir- but with every more useless visit, his respect faded more and more.

"Well, what do you want me to call you? Voldemort?", Salazar sighed again, "those are semantics, nothing more. Please stop deflecting. Besides, I came to remind you of the pre-trial meeting at the ministry in two days, you know it is one of your conditions to be there and…"

Conditions. How he had come to hate that simple word.

"I am done talking to you", he turned for the door, "I am fine, I will be fine, and tell Gryffindor that I won't go to college. We have nothing else to discuss, I see you at the ministry", and without saying goodbye, he left the library, slamming the door behind him, knowing very well that Salazar would not come after him.

He went straight to his bedroom, furious about yet another unexpected visit from the Founder. At least Gryffindor had the decency to leave him the hell alone, but Slytherin had been showing up repeatedly since he'd been living at Slytherin Castle for the past few months, something he knew he was supposed to be grateful for- especially since most of his Death Eaters were in Azkaban.

But he wasn't grateful. He wasn't grateful for anything.

And it was a shame he was not able to prevent Slytherin from showing up here- since he had built Slytherin Castle himself, there was no way he could stop him from apparating straight into his living room.

Let's hope he got the message this time.

And with that, he fell onto his bed, not bothering to brush his teeth or undress- and seconds later, he was fast asleep.

He greedily reached for another lemon drop, the amount in the bowl he kept them in already critically low.

Dumbledore's smile turned ugly when he focused his attention on the object on his desk again.

After years and years of careful research, he had finally managed to do what not many had ever dared to do before him, an act so vile and evil that most wizards did not even know of its existence.

He had created a horcrux.

A horcrux that had been able to come to existence by a cold-blooded, merciless and completely unnecessary murder, a murder done without any remorse or guilt.

A murder that no one even knew had happened yet…

It had always been thought that only a Dark Wizard could create a horcrux- but Dumbledore, full of White Magic, had- after months and months of searching- found a loophole in one of the books that he had taken from the Restricted Section at Hogwarts, a loophole that would now further protect his horcrux.

He was not stupid enough to keep the horcrux in his office, no- but he would hide it somewhere in Hogwarts, and as a headmaster, he knew every hall and window of this place.

He was not going to take any chances- the hiding spot would have to be extremely safe, and it would have to be protected with some additional spells, and thankfully, he had the found the perfect spell for that as well.

This was his school- and now, with being immortal, it would stay his school forever.

Just like it should be.

That's the start, hope you like it so far! In the next chap, Sirius will come up with a rather daring plan to get back at Aurelius, and Tom and Godric will meet for the first time :D

I'd love some feedback from you all! Thank you!

see you soon!

Antonie