AN: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me. Get it right people.

PROLOGUE

This was not what he expected to find when he stormed the Potter boy's house. He assumed the child would be living with a loving family and treated like a prince, treated to his every whim for being the Boy Who Lived.

He did not expect to find a broken child laying in a heap on the floor, eyes full of pain and pleading for something he couldn't decipher. It might have been the simple request to just leave and forget about it all.

But Harry Potter knew why the Dark Lord was there, and the Boy Who Lived was begging his enemy for death. Just how Voldemort had imagined it.

In that one moment however, Tom Marvolo Riddle felt a rare burst of compassion and he did something unexpected: he lowered his wand. Potter was now visibly shocked and as Voldemort came closer he became worried. His injuries prevented him from struggling and the Dark Lord picked the small Chosen One up with ease.

Voldemort glided out to the main area of the muggle house where his followers were languidly torturing Harry's muggle relatives. As he entered the room his Death Eaters turned to stare at the sight. The women gasped and held back tears while the men gripped their wands tighter and continued attacking the muggles with renewed fervor.

Silently the Dark Lord cast a spell upon the bruised and bloody muggles and in a hoarse voice commanded his followers. "Those who wish to stay, keep them alive and bring them with you when you return. Also, if you wish, you may come with me. Severus, please." The Dark Lord glided out and most of the women and one professor Snape followed.

Back in the relative safety of his manor, Voldemort placed Harry in a disused room across from his. When Snape and the others arrived he left the boy to their care and snuck off to his study. He needed to rethink his life. A life without Harry Potter as his archenemy.

Safely seated in his smooth leather chair, Voldemort realized that it was indeed compassion that overtook him. A mere moment of weakness to save the boy from the same childhood he experienced.

He seemed to have many moments of weakness where Harry Potter was concerned. At the ministry he couldn't even go through with the possession of the boy. The memories of Harry's friends and happiness made him feel jealous, such a trivial emotion. He also couldn't bear to take it away. So he proceeded to leave the boy, but was prepared to get revenge this night.

Voldemort only hoped this weakness wouldn't lead to his demise like the first time…

AN: Chapter title- I Wanna Get Better by The Bleachers