CHAPTER ONE

In which our hero gets played

The doorbell rang, alerting the occupants of the house to the arrival of Harry Potter's best friends. "Boy!" Vernon bellowed loudly. "Come answer the door! Those worthless freaks are here to see you!" Harry slowly descended the stairs, his eyes flinty. He just knew his friends had heard that, and was horribly embarrassed by it. The Order had convinced the Dursleys to allow Hermione and Ron to come and pick Harry up to get his school supplies, since he wasn't allowed to go anywhere for the summer. They had grudgingly agreed, especially after the threat of the Order watching from across the street.

Needless to say, when they got home, Harry spent a large amount of time locked in his room with no food, and Vernon would come in on occasion to beat him. All in all, it wasn't the most pleasant of summers, and Harry was sure that, after their shopping trip, he would be paying for the visit.

He opened the door, smiling widely at the familiar faces. "Ron! Hermione! Am I ever glad to see you!" He looked behind them, noting with surprise that Arthur Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks were behind them.

"Wotcher, Harry!" the pink-haired Auror burbled at him. The elder Weasley nodded, a small smile on his face.

"Are you ready to go, Harry?" Hermione asked excitedly. Nodding frantically, Harry practically danced out the door, standing in front of his best friends. He pulled them into an enthusiastic hug. It took them a few seconds to reciprocate, but Harry chalked it up to their surprise.

"The Ministry gave us a portkey," Ron said, holding out an empty soda can. Harry looked at it suspiciously for a moment.

"Aren't you afraid of using magic in front of muggles?" he asked.

"We've put notice-me-not charms around ourselves, Harry," Arthur said, smiling reassuringly.

"Oh, okay then." He put his finger on the can, waiting for the others to follow suit. Tonks tapped it with her wand, murmured 'portus', and they were whisked away. The Order members across the street smiled at each other, glad that Harry would be able to spend at least some time with his friends, before they apparated away and to Grimmauld Place to put in their report. When they arrived, they went to the kitchen and were shocked to see Arthur Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks sitting at the table with the rest of the Order.

"Oh, Merlin," moaned Elphias Doge. "I think we've lost Harry Potter."

Instead of Diagon Alley, Harry found himself in the middle of the library at Malfoy Manor. Instantly his wand was in his hand and pointing at the people who had brought him there.

"All right, what in seven hells is going on here? Why are we here Hermione?" The muggleborn smirked, and Harry's eyes widened. That look was decidedly weird on his friend's face, and that was the first clue that things were not what they seemed. Before he could open his mouth to curse someone, his wand was snatched from his grip, leaving him defenseless. He was gently pushed down into a chair, and the others sat around him, waiting. After twenty minutes, emerald eyes widened as he saw their forms bubble and shift until he was staring at Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy. Bloody fucking hell, he thought morosely, I didn't even bother with a security question. There goes my plans to beg them for help. "Where is he?" Harry asked aloud, a resigned look on his face.

"Where is who, Potter?" Draco smirked, silver eyes glimmering mischievously.

"Your master," the raven bit out, furious. "The one you crawl to every day. The one who treats you like nothing more than cannon fodder. The one who…"

"That's enough, Mr. Potter," a dark voice came from the stacks. The Dark Lord emerged into Harry's line of sight, and the teen nearly swallowed his tongue. Gone was the pale, gaunt, snake-like man and in his place was a gorgeous, distinguished looking older man. "As you can see, I am right here. I have a proposition for you, if you would care to hear it."

Emerald eyes narrowed suspiciously as Harry spoke. "Doesn't look like I have much of a choice."

"Of course you do," Lucius replied. "We could always return you to those despicable muggles who treat you like a house elf and convenient punching bag." Emerald eyes widened in shock. "We've been watching you for a few days, unbeknownst to the Order. We've seen how you're treated and, in spite of who you are, you do not deserve to be treated that way. No wizarding child deserves to be treated that way."

Flushing with shame, Harry bowed his head, overwhelmed. How is it that my friends and the Order don't know what's going on, but with only a few days spying, my enemies do? Am I really worth so little to the wizarding world? "What's your proposition?" Red eyes narrowed at the completely defeated demeanor of the Boy Who Lived.

"You will be kept hidden and safe," Riddle said, frowning when that garnered no reaction. "We will keep you chained up in the dungeons, and only feed you once a day." The Gryffindor shrugged, tears shimmering on his lashes. Draco glared heatedly at the Dark Lord, and Lucius stood, ready to take their Lord and master to task. Narcissa had darted forward to hug the crying child, and Pansy was frowning fiercely, appalled at the lack of response.

"Nothing different from what I get anyway," the raven sniffed. "I expect it from you."

"Merlin, Potter," Tom huffed irritably. "I was only joking. We mean to provide you with security and safety. We wish to give you everything you've been deprived of. We want to show you your true worth."

Harry raised his head, looking at the Dark Lord calculatingly. "What do you get out of it?" he asked.

"Why, I get the wizarding world handed to me on a silver platter," the Dark Lord said with a smug grin. "With you out of the way, no one would dare face me."

"I'll go you one better," the raven added with a grin. "I'll join you." Gasps were heard, and red eyes widened comically at Harry's declaration.

"Come again?" Lucius asked, sticking a finger in his ear and rattling it around.

"I said, I'll join you," Harry reiterated, pleased that he'd been able to startle the Death Eater brigade.

"Why?" Voldemort barked out in surprise.

"You said it yourself. You've been watching me. You've seen the way I've been treated. Would you expect any other response?"

"YES!" Pansy and Draco shouted simultaneously. Harry looked at the Slytherins in amusement, glad that he'd surprised them also.

"I'm not surprised," Narcissa said thoughtfully. "I've long suspected that Mr. Potter is a snake in disguise. Considering his upbringing, it's no wonder he fought so hard to stay away from Slytherin. He only wanted to fit in, after all." Emerald eyes narrowed at the woman suspiciously.

"How do you know about that?" he asked softly.

"During one of your disastrous occlumency sessions with Severus, he was able to glean that information, as well as witness some of the treatment you'd been receiving. It was he that alerted the Dark Lord and us to your ongoing situation, and he's the reason we'd started watching you."

"Snape?! But he hates me!"

"I do not hate you, Mr. Potter," the dark voice came from deep within the library, making Harry cringe and shrink back into the chair he was sitting in. Severus Snape stalked around the end of a shelf, dark eyes kind on the emerald-eyed boy. "I hate your father, and despise your godfather. It was a bit alarming to see you that first year; you'd looked so much like James Potter that, for a moment, it was like I was back in first year again. When I saw your eyes, your mother's eyes, something changed. I saw the pain you'd tried to hide, and, when I humiliated you in front of the students in that first potions class, I saw a strength and courage your father could never have. I also saw a strength of character that no one in your family, except for your mother, ever exhibited.

"I realized then that you weren't spoiled and pampered like your father. You'd fought for every scrap of acknowledgment of your existence, from the moment your parents died, and I felt shame curl within my heart. After that moment, I decided to try and change things between us. I wanted to provide you with a mentor; a shoulder, if you will. When I lashed out during potions lessons, it wasn't at you. It was at your useless friends, who seemed to only be holding you back."

"Is that why you went out of your way to protect me?" the boy asked, stunned.

"It is."

"Thank you, sir. I know that, if it hadn't been for you helping me so many times, I probably would've died during Dumblefuck's 'tests'." Harry turned to Riddle, emerald eyes flashing with attraction for a brief moment before it was hidden behind indifference. "You do know that you've had compulsion charms cast on you since that Halloween night at Godric's Hollow."

Red eyes narrowed angrily. "Preposterous," the man barked. "I would've felt them being cast. I would've, at the very least, felt the foreign magic on me."

"Not if it was one of your followers, since you're so accustomed to their magic."

"Who?" Voldemort hissed, not doubting Harry's assertions.

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry answered softly, a hint of understanding in his gaze. "Sirius and she have maintained contact through the years. She never went to Azkaban, despite everyone telling you differently. When you 'liberated' your Death Eaters from the prison, she had gone under a very strong disillusionment spell, and had snuck into an empty cell, to make it look like she had been incarcerated. She hid out at Grimmauld Place, and she and Sirius plotted and schemed together to bring about your downfall. The compulsion charms are geared to make you want to kill me every time you get near. They're keyed to the horcrux in my scar."

"Horcrux? In your scar? When? How?" The Dark Lord was confused and angry, and his magic was swirling around him in a helix of unrestrained power. Harry's eyes widened as that magic caressed against him, and he went boneless in bliss for a moment. Fighting to get himself under control, Riddle finally pulled his magic back, smirking slightly at the disappointed moan coming from Potter.

"You made me a horcrux the night you tried to kill me," the boy said matter-of-factly, voice trembling slightly from the force of his attraction. "It was when your killing curse rebounded and destroyed your body. That piece of soul you had split off after the deaths of my parents latched onto me, the only living thing in the place."

"If that's true, why aren't the compulsion charms working now?" Riddle asked curiously.

"I've stopped going against you," the boy answered indifferently. "I realized after Sirius' death that I didn't want to fight anymore. I'd found papers in his desk the summer before fifth year, outlining how I was supposed to die and how he was supposed to claim the title and rights of House Potter. And I was willing to die. I didn't want to live without my parents anymore. It wasn't until the Department of Mysteries that the spells keeping me in a nearly constant state of depression were broken, and my mind was free for the first time in years."

Emerald eyes hardened in unrestrained hatred. "I was the one to knock Sirius Black back into the Veil. He and Bellatrix were putting on a 'show' for your forces and the Order. Sirius was doing his thing by the Veil, and I shot a tripping jinx at him just as he danced out of the way of a harmless hex his cousin had shot at him. He stumbled back into the Veil, his eyes on mine the whole time. I showed him exactly what I was thinking and feeling, and I sent him to the other side with my hatred of him glowing from my eyes." Harry snorted softly as the feelings were tamped down. "I hope my parents are giving him just the kind of paradise he deserves."

"Merlin, Potter," Draco murmured, "please don't look like that again. You looked like the Dark Lord during one of his punishing phases for a moment."

"Thanks, Malfoy," Harry chirped with a wide grin. "I'll take that as a compliment." He turned to Tom once again, questions in his eyes.

"Now that I know that you are a horcrux, I can remove the one from Nagini and set her free, if that is what she wishes. You will be my safety net, and in return, you will remain safe and sheltered, and want for nothing."

"Thank you, Tom," Harry replied quietly, looking shyly at the Dark Lord from beneath his lashes. That bashful look had Voldemort's red eyes widening in shock at the sudden desire with which he was swamped. Desire to claim the raven for his very own. Turning the idea over in his head, he smirked to himself. He's not hard on the eyes, Riddle thought as he continued to appraise Harry. The teen blushed under the ruby stare, dropping his eyes to his hands in nervousness. His magic nearly equals my own, and he has a vindictive streak a mile wide. I daresay the wizarding world will rue the day they treated this precious boy like so much garbage. I cannot wait to see the fallout from this.

"What do you mean, you've lost Harry Potter?" Dumbledore bellowed, incensed. He'd come to Grimmauld to have an Order meeting, and was met with chaos as everyone was running hither and dither, like chickens with their heads cut off. The babble had the old man confused for a moment, before the words Potter and lost managed to make it to his ears. Holding his hands aloft, he barked for silence, gratified when it was instantly given.

"W-we w-watched as Arthur and Tonks p-picked up Harry Potter like they were supposed to. They had Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger with them. Everyone had arrived and left safely, and we came straight back here to report. That's when we saw Arthur and Nymphadora sitting at the table, chatting with some of the others," Elphias had stammered out, eyes on the floor. "It never occurred to us that they'd be polyjuiced. It was completely unexpected."

Albus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. "I just left the Weasleys," he growled out lowly, fighting desperately to rein in his flaring temper. "Ronald and Hermione were still there." He looked up at Doge and Podmore, glaring harshly. "Did it not occur to you to ask them a security question? Just for verification?"

"N-no, Headmaster," Podmore replied, ashamed. "We just assumed that it was who it had appeared to be."

"What are we going to do, Albus?" Minerva asked quietly, watching the old man with narrowed eyes. "We cannot fight this war without the Savior."

"I know this, Minerva," he snapped at his oldest friend. He didn't see the anger in the older woman's eyes, nor did he see the calculation that overtook the anger. He was mired in the mess in which he'd found himself, and was completely oblivious to the serpents that were in his nest.