1Summary: Albus Dumbledore once said that Lord Voldemort could not love. He was wrong. A strange meeting in 1968 changed the past, present and future. Fate has decided to give Tom Riddle a second chance to have what he had lost: a family.
A/N: this story is in HP-verse, but with different events and new characters. There is still the Prophecy, but no Boy-who-lived; the Potters and Longbottoms are still alive and well. The main protagonist is not Harry Potter, but there will be a 'Harry Potter' in the story. Oh, there are OCs, too.
Warnings: I love Dark!Harry stories, so be warned that this story favors the Dark side more than the Light. Manipulative!Dumbledore, might be Potters!Bashing, Weasleys!Bashing (minus the twins) and Longbottoms!Bashing, Dark!Grangers (yes, the Grangers go dark, but only slightly). If you feel offended by any of the warnings above, please click the back button. I welcome reviews and criticism, but flames will be ignored.
Pairings: I'm a slash fan, and this story will have slash (but not among the main characters). So, basic pairings will be: DM/HG, LM/NM, TR/ML (this one is an OC), RL/BL, FW/GW.
Dialogue:
"talking"
~Parseltongue~
'thinking'
spells
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
PROLOGUE
The first time they met was on a cool day in autumn, 1968.
He was a 42-year-old man in a body of a 20-year-old, having just returned from Germany for a month. She was a fourth year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was looking for old and rare documents in the Dark section of the bookstore. She was shopping for books to read in her free time.
It was probably Fate's decision that they both found interest in the same book at the same time. As they reached for it his fingers brushed against hers.
They recoiled instinctively as if the touch burned and stared at each other, he in shock and she in awe. His eyes widened briefly in surprise, but quickly returned to normal size with a confusingly understanding gaze.
The book they were trying to reach was about Parselmagic. He frowned slightly, as he didn't expect anyone to have enough knowledge about Parseltongue to read it, unless they were Slytherin's descendants like him. She didn't think there would be anyone interested in Parselmagic beside herself.
He was the first to step back. Yes, it would be unfortunate not to have a book like that in his collection, but he could always go find others. Besides, the gentleman in him simply refused to take the book for himself in front of a lady.
"I'm sorry. The book is yours. You were here first." He spoke softly and, after giving her a small nod, turned to leave. But a hand on his robe's sleeve stopped him.
"Please wait."
His body gave a pleasant tingle as the sound of her voice reached his ears. It was as clear as the twinkling of bells and as pure as morning dew. It was… nice.
"Yes?" He turned back and played the role of a perfect gentleman. She blushed as she caught sight of his red wine eyes. Ah yes, he noted with slight amusement, girls and middle-aged women often blushed upon seeing his handsome features.
"Ah…" she stuttered, one hand came up playing with her dark honey strands "I was just wondering if…"
"Yes?" He prompted again.
"If… if you happen to know about Parseltongue." She said in a rush and flushed when he raised an eyebrow, afraid that she had offended him. The Snake Language, after all, was deemed Dark and most wizards and witches would feel insulted if they were called a Parselmouth. But when he gave no reaction, she glanced up at the book on the shelf and smiled sheepishly.
"Because, you know, you were about to take that book. And from what I know, people don't take a book out if they don't understand its title."
He blinked and looked at the book again. Sure enough, its title was written in scribbled lines – Parseltongue – on the cover. He understood now: speaking and reading and writing Parseltongue had become a second nature for him, so he often saw it as English while it was in fact the Snake Language.
Wait, did she just say she recognized Parseltongue, too?
The girl must have seen his shocked expression, for she gave a giggle.
"Yes, I can recognize Parseltongue, because I've been researching it." She said proudly with a small wink. "But I can't speak it, though, only Salazar Slytherin's descendants can. And documents about Parseltongue are very rare, so… I'm kind of looking for someone who has knowledge about the language to… discuss it together."
She blushed an endearing pink again and lowered her head, making dark honey bangs fall into here eyes, successfully cutting off his Legilimens.
Yes, he was doing Legilimens on her – don't call him paranoid, it was his nature – and saw that everything she said was true. She really did have a lot of interest in Parseltongue but often had to hide it for fear of prejudice. She was in Ravenclaw – House of the intelligent and logic-worshipping bookworms – and therefore had to play neutral even though the war against the Dark Lord Grindelwald had ended 23 years ago.
Interesting.
Smirking faintly, he took the battered-looking book out of its shelf and placed it in her hands.
"For you question, yes, I happen to have – not that I brag – quite vast a knowledge about ~Parseltongue~." He hissed quietly – just enough for her to hear – to demonstrate and watched with satisfaction as she shuddered lightly. Her emerald eyes shone beautifully in awe and hope as they stared into his red ones. He added. "And I would love to… discuss it with you."
Not being able to keep her joy down, she squealed "Really?" making his lips quirked up. "Oh, thank you very much, Mister-"
"Riddle." He said quietly, sticking out a hand. "Tom Riddle." Yes, it was exactly like what that man had said: it was worth the long wait.
She smiled intelligently at him and shook his offering hand.
"Miranda Lerouge. Nice to meet you."
And with their seemingly innocent handshake, the Wheels of Fate turned, creating a whole new age which had never been told before.
A/N: this short Prologue gives you a brief view of what had happened in the past and changed the future. Hp-lexicon stated that Tom Riddle disappeared from 1945 to 1970, I will try my best to keep this fact and as the same time forge my story's events. The next chapter will be a summary of what happens until the year 1991.
Please read and review.