A/N: Here's the second story to chose from. Honesty i love them both but i can only write a few stories at the same time so i hope you make it easier for me. No matter which story you choose, i promise you that they will be written at the best of my ability...

This story hasn't been beta-ed so please bear with the grammar, where ever it is not correct.

Disclaimer: If i said i was mine, would you believe me?. I guess not

Chapter 1

The darkest, most feared wizard in the world strode deliberately towards the small cottage at the end of the dirt road, his dark regal appearance more ominous in the presence of the waning moon. If some Muggle were to unfortunately stumble upon his path right at this moment, said Muggle would definitely run with its tail in between its legs, figuratively speaking of course, just at the sight of the Dark Lord's malevolent ruby red eyes. As he took another step towards his intended direction, two dark hooded individuals Apparated and flanked him on either side, their faces concealed by green masks, indicating their ranks within the Dark's circle. Lord Voldemort did nothing to acknowledge the arrival of two of his most trusted friends but with a simple nod of his head. Together the three of them continued their trek towards the house in silence.

The three dark wizards soon felt a pressing force that prevented them from taking another step towards the cottage that now stood only a few feet from them. Voldemort turned for the first time to the man on his left and asked, lacking his customary hiss, "Were you able to find the rat?"

"Why of course Tom!" said the man flippantly, "Do you take me for a common Death Eater?"

Voldemort gritted his teeth and hissed at the man's brazenness, though his scarlet eyes flashed briefly in amusement. Had it been another Death Eater, that person would have surely died just by just calling him by his real name. However since both men at present company have known him for years, he let it slip, though the masked man seem to find his annoyance amusing, for even behind his mask, the Dark Lord could feel his ridiculous smirk.

'Blasted Gryffindor', thought Voldemort.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist Tom, I found the rat. Suffice to say that Potter and Pettigrew both fell for it." said the same man to the left of the Dark Lord, pulling out a rolled piece of parchment from within his robes and handing it to the Dark Lord. This time Voldemort wisely chose to ignore the man's comments, knowing full well that his Inner Circle could never be scared witless by mere glares; sometimes he wonders how he ever came to tolerate them in the first place.

The man to the right of the Dark Lord rolled his eyes and shook his head at his companion's antics; trust the man to fool around at such an important mission.

Voldemort's death glares all but made the earlier man grin wider, causing the Dark Lord to curse incomprehensibly in Parseltongue as he grabbed the parchment from the man. Unravelling the piece of parchment revealed the much needed information to break through what was felt of the old coot's Fidelius Charm. For months now, the Dark had temporarily ceased all Death Eater activities, to the delight of the Wizarding public, to solely focus all its sources in locating the Potters; and now the final stages of the plan were about to be executed. Committing the words to memory, Voldemort took out his wand, waved it in an uncharacteristic fashion and uttered a string of words in Latin, before passing through the wards as though nothing had halted his steps in the first place. His two companions followed him soon after, their wands now held firmly at a ready.

"Confringo!"

The wooden door was blasted off its hinges by a jet of blue light that erupted from the Dark Lord's wand and the three dark clad wizards subsequently heard a man shouting to someone else in the room.

"Lily, he's here. Take Harry and go!" shouted James Potter before appearing in front of the feared Dark Lord and his followers. Gone was the cocky stance James Potter was associated with and in its place was a man determined to save his small family; whatever the cost. However no matter how much Gryffindor bravado he displayed, no one could help but feel a trickle fear at the sight of darkest wizard the world has come to know standing on your doorstep, wand pointed straight at you.

Voldemort watched as the emotions flickered pass the stupid Gryffindor's face. He did not need to look through the man's head to tell that he had not expected to be attacked considering the number of precautions the meddling old fool had placed on their home. He knew the Light trusted their leader too readily beyond a shadow of a doubt, but this was just ridiculous.

"Potter," Voldemort all but spat at the man before him.

A shiver of fear ran down James' spine, but surprisingly the hand holding his wand was still steadily pointed at the Dark Lord.

Voldemort stared at the wand pointed at him and sneered. "What exactly do you plan to hit me with, Potter?"

"What ever it takes to rid the world of you, you snake face bastard!"

Anger flashed dangerously in the pools of ruby that were the Dark Lord's eyes. "So the poster boy for the Light actually has the nerve to perform the Dark Arts? I thought the old fool abhor the use of them? You of all his followers should know that." said Voldemort silkily causing his two companions to snigger.

"What ever it takes!" repeated James, his hazel eyes brimming with his stupid Gryffindor determination and bravery.

"Now Potter," said Voldemort, lowering his wand a fraction, though he wasn't stupid as too actually lower it any lower than an inch. "Being the merciful Lord that I am, I'm going to give you another chance. The Potter Family is one of the last few ancient pureblood families still alive today and you are an extremely gifted Auror, it would all go to such a waste if I have to kill you and – your family. You would do well in the new magical order I have promised my followers once both the Order and the Ministry are permanently dealt with."

"If you think I would turn over to the Dark and betray Dumbledore, you're even more stupid than I –" shouted James, but before he could finish his sentence, he found himself thrown through the air and his body felt like it was being stabbed by a thousand burning knives.

The man to the left of the Dark Lord stepped forward and spoke over the screams that came from James' tortured body, "Watch your tongue Potter! The Dark Lord may want to give you a chance but I for one disagree with him."

The only thing visible of the man beneath his mask was his cold blue eyes that were strikingly familiar to James. It was a full minute before the man lifted his curse and moved back to take his place just behind the Dark Lord, a satisfied smirk playing beneath his green mask.

Unfazed by his friend's sudden attack on his enemy, Voldemort crouched down so as to be on the same level as Potter who was struggling to get back on his feet. "Lassssssst chance Potter," he hissed, "Join me or die…."

Still dealing with the effects of the Cruciatus, James stared defiantly into bloody depths before him and gathered all his courage before spitting directly onto the Dark Lord's immaculately dark robes, staining it wonderfully with both blood and saliva. Voldemort was at first shocked but it was immediately replaced with that of cold indifference. Removing the revolting stain off his robes with a flick of the wand, Voldemort stood up, immediately towering over the injured man. "You cannot say I didn't offer you a reprieve for siding with the losing side when you literally spat it back at me."

"I'd rather die than become your servant!" James said vehemently, eyeing the two men that stood behind the Dark Lord.

"Very well, Potter, I shall grant your wish,"

James' hazel eyes widen in understanding, yet the only indication he got that Voldemort was about to attack him was the darkening of his eyes and before he knew it, he was hit with a blast of purple light and he came crashing towards the wall, blood trickling down his face.

Voldemort stood before the fallen man and cast a very potent Cruciatus, eliciting one of the most tortured screams he had ever heard in his history of casting the Unforgivable. The impromptu torture sessions lasted for twenty minutes with an interval of a minute every now and then to ensure that Potter was still alive to actually feel the pain. By the time the last of the curse had been lifted, James was a dreadful sight; blood oozed freely from several cuts on his body and one of his legs was twisted in a manner that clearly showed it was broken.

"I would love to continue this with you Potter, but since I have other urgent matters to attend to, I shall leave you in the hands of my faithful followers. But do not worry; their abilities are known to equal mine." Voldemort gestured for his two generals to come forward. "Enjoy yourselves." he said, watching Potter's face pale in comparison at the implication of his words.

The two green masked wizards eyed James with evil anticipation and raised their wands.

Voldemort left the room in search for the two people he had been meaning to see; James' tormented screams music to his ears. He soon reached a flight of steps and made his way up as his charcoal black robes swept mysteriously behind him. His peripheral vision caught sight of light seeping out from one of the rooms to his left and made a move towards it, knowing what waited for him inside.

The door opened without a single creak and he found himself inside a warmly decorated nursery. Voldemort, the embodiment of a powerful Dark Lord, would normally sneer at the display of such Gryffindor colours but that was quickly negated at the sight of an infant no older than one, bouncing merrily atop the lap of a woman with flaming red hair.

Lily Evans, or more commonly known to the Wizarding world as Lily Potter, turned towards the new yet familiar presence that had entered her son's room and her beautiful face was graced with the first genuine smile she had given in months, no matter how small it was. She scooped up her gurgling son and placed him inside his crib before casually moving towards the man.

"You're late. But I trust so far everything is going according to plan?" she asked, her face impassive.

However before Voldemort could reply to her question, the whole house was filled yet again with the screams of James Potter; this time sounding as if his blood was coursing through his body in the wrong direction. Lily looked behind the imposing man as if trying to see whether the man who was screaming was actually behind them instead of below them judging by the screams of the man. She raised her brow in question at the Dark Lord.

"They've been waiting for months to test their creativity." came the Dark Lord's casual reply. Lily stared disbelievingly at the scarlet eyes, the only one who could do so without shivering slightly at the depths of darkness that could be found within, and before she could help herself, she smiled in amusement.

Long pale arms found themselves wrapped around her and her earlier reservations towards the man vanished, revelling at the comforting feel of his power and grace she had missed for so long

"I hoped they have not tainted him so," said Voldemort softly, looking affectionately at the toddler who was preoccupied with his toy wand, pointing it alternately at his soft toys, mumbling spells he'd undoubtedly heard from his mother since the Dark Lord had yet to meet a man, much less a teething boy with such a vocabulary of spells.

Lily snorted uncharacteristically and turned to look at her son as well, "The boy is so much like you that I lose count months ago trying to cover up for his un-Lightly actions. He actually laughed just like you when James fell of his broom last week. Imagine that. Tom, the boy is as much a Light wizard as you or I."

Voldemort disentangled himself from the red-haired woman and swept towards the boy. Innocent green eyes rimmed with scarlet stared at him and slowly the child reached out with his hands. Voldemort turned to Lily, not really sure of what to do. Lily, for her part, smiled at the Dark Lord's uneasiness. The man may be the most feared wizard alive, but that had not prepared him caring for a child.

With a reassuring nod from Lily, Voldemort waved his hand over his face to vanish the snake-like mask he placed over his handsome features then turned his attention back to the boy who was still waiting for him with his hands wide open, inviting him. Voldemort bent down and lifted the small boy into his arms. As soon as the boy was securely in his arms, he felt a surged of magic quite unlike the kind he'd associated himself for years. It was – warm and it made him happy inside. Definitely not a feeling your average Dark Lord would ever feel.

The boy tilted his head and giggled happily making both the Dark Lord and Lily beam in delight. "Erebus…" Voldemort said aloud, gathering the attention of the green-eyed boy. "My son."

Harry Potter or rather Erebus Ferrox Riddle from now on, giggled once more and buried his head in his father's robes. Voldemort delicately ran a long thin finger along the boy's rosy cheeks and murmured softly, "My child… Dumbledore's a fool to believe you belong to him."

At that precise moment maniacal laughter rang throughout the room to be followed by more screams of agony. Erebus immediately lifted his head from the comfortable position it had been resting on and giggled happily at the agonizing screams, turning his head from side to side, looking for the source.

Voldemort stared at the child and turned to Lily again who gave him an I-told-you-so look. A smile began to form on his pale face and whispered softly to his son, "Dumbledore is indeed a fool."

"Let's get to it Tom, we won't have much time left." said Lily, hating having to stop the bonding between father and son.

"Yes yes. You're right as always," said Voldemort, not bothering to bring down the small child who had gone back to laying its head contently on his shoulder. Pulling out his wand, he uttered a spell in Parseltongue, soon after, a golem appeared floating in midair; an exact replica of Lily Potter. The real Lily also conjured a vial of her own blood that she had been collecting for over a year. They didn't want to take any chances that Dumbledore would suspect something was a miss and decided that real blood would assuage any doubts he may have about the supposed death of James Potter's beloved wife.

"What about Erebus?" asked Lily once she had poured more than enough blood around her golem-corpse.

Voldemort was about to conjure yet another golem when footsteps thundered up the stairs. Though the man was still wearing his mask, Voldemort could clearly see that the man was flustered, his robes flecked with caking blood.

"Tom," the man gasped. "The Order!"

"The Order?" snapped Voldemort, jolting the small boy in his arms.

"Potter somehow managed to summon his Phoenix Pendant and has alerted Dumbledore and the Order. Black has already Apparated away to avoid suspicions. We have to get out of here Tom, the Order will be here any –"

But before he could even finish his sentence, the tell tale signs of bellowing voices below alerted them that the Order had indeed arrived.

Voldemort hissed under his breath a few chosen curses in Parseltongue that made the little boy perk up at the sound.

"Severus, get Lily out of here now." ordered Voldemort, pushing the woman towards the man named Severus.

Lily's eyes widen and was about to argue when she felt the familiar feel of both a Notice-Me-Not and a Silencing Charm cast upon her. She stared angrily at the foolish man and shouted at him but none could hear her. Severus wrapped his arms around her, restraining her, but she was still struggling.

"Albusssssss…." they heard the Dark Lord hiss at someone. Severus and Lily both turned in unison to see that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had arrived.

"Tom," said Albus conversationally causing the other man to hiss angrily but upon seeing the dead body of Lily Potter sprawled on the floor and the Potter's child in the Dark Lord's arms staring at him, Dumbledore's facial expression changed from that of an impassive professor to that of a distressed old man.

"Are you sssssssad to ssssssee one of your Mudbloodssssssss die?" taunted Voldemort, having placed his mask over his face before Dumbledore arrived.

Dumbledore was taken with an unnatural agility for a man his age and cast a spell towards Voldemort. Voldemort barely saw the jet of light coming towards him but managed to dodge it nonetheless.

Lily watched helplessly as the two most powerful wizards duelled fiercely to the death, all the while her only son was still in his father's arms, caught in the middle of the fray. Her breath caught when a jet of sickly green light nearly took its mark on the Dark Lord's chest. She had never seen either duel as hard as she was seeing them duel now. She knew that this was it, that either one of these men, who both had a hand in altering her life completely, would meet his end.

She was however not prepared for another blast of green light that headed not towards her husband but towards her son. Time seemed to have come to a stand still as she watched the deadly light hurl itself towards her boy who had barely known his father. She reached out, although she knew no one could see her, to try and save her son from the inescapable hands of death; that was when the unthinkable occurred. Instead of the curse bringing immediate death to her son, the light had somehow bounced back from her son's forehead causing it to rebound back to its caster.

Dumbledore stared in shock as the green light now headed towards him. He only had enough time to cast a final spell; a Mirror charm, to deflect the stray curse away from him. Voldemort, who surprisingly did not look surprised at what his son had done, just stood there as the curse now headed towards him, a victorious smile on his face.

Lily screamed like she had never screamed before. She didn't know why the man just stood there, not bothering to block the curse; those were not the actions of the Heir of Slytherin. She shuddered at the next spontaneous thought that came to her mind… that was Gryffindorish! Lily refused to look at the direction where her husband and son once stood once the dust and rubble brought on by the curse settled down. It was only until she heard Severus' audible gasp did she chance to look at the scene.

What she saw would be imbedded in her memory forever, for instead of seeing the mangled body of the dead Dark Lord, all that was left in the room were the dark robes Lord Voldemort had worn not a few moments ago. But what struck her the most was that her son had somehow survived the backlash of the curse that had hit his father and appeared below her feet, nothing but a bleeding gash on his forehead to indicate that he had been caught in the middle of a Killing Curse.

Lily felt the hot traces of tears coming down her cheeks as she bent down to pick up her son who was staring wide eyed in distress. She buried her face in his soft tuff of black hair, so like his father's, and held him tightly in her hands. It wasn't supposed to end this way, she thought angrily to herself. He was supposed to get them out of the Light and together they would bring down the Order! Tonight was supposed to be the night the Dark finally conquered the Light, not the other way around. There was a part of her that refused to believe that this was the end for them; that somehow Tom had another plan up his sleeves, for Salazar's sake the man had overcome so many things. But as she stared at the scene before her, there was nothing left to suggest that he was still alive.

It was long after Dumbledore and the Order had cleared the house of her body and the remains of the Dark Lord did she allow herself to be ushered out of the house by Severus. She knew the man was shaken up as well; his usual mask of stoicism was clearly in shambles. He was muttering words to her but she wasn't listening, all she did was hold her son, who had now fallen asleep, closer to her.

They Apparated outside a pair of large iron wrought gates that led to a stunning manor that looked completely out of place in a village full of Muggles. Once they had keyed in their magic, the wards allowed them entrance and they walked up the path in painful silence. The front doors then opened to reveal a slightly tanned woman with long dark hair.

"My Lady, welcome –" greeted the woman, however one look at Lily's steely dark green eyes, she stopped.

"Pleased to see you too Bella," said Lily nonchalantly, though there was a hit of suppressed anger in her voice. "Would you please take Erebus to his room? I'd like to be alone." She handed her son to the surprised woman and walked swiftly through the halls, not paying attention to the joyous greetings the other occupants of the manor were giving her.

She reached forbidden wing of the manor, where only she and the Inner Circle could enter, and went through a room at the far side of the hall. The doors opened up to a large private chamber adorned with all sorts of trinkets, walls lined with bookshelves that reached all the way to the ceiling, and curtains of deep green framed the windows – the Dark Lord's study.

Walking through the room in a blurry of red and black, she made her way to one of the shelves and grabbed the nearest book, feverishly flipped through it before discarding it on the desk and tearing through the next set of books.

Soon the ancient dark wooden desk filled out with numerous books which varied from tombs entitled 'Dark Rituals' to 'A Quest for the Dark and Unyielding'. However Lily refused to slow down, determined to find answers and ways to revive the Dark Lord Voldemort. She would not just sit down and let the Order get away with it; she had not sacrificed a lot of things for it to just end up like this.

The tears had long stopped flowing down her face and in its place, a feeling of deep seethed anger towards the man, who from the very beginning had tried to control her life. When she was younger, she was unlike any other Gryffindor who revered the great Albus Dumbledore, for there was always something that prevented her from fully taking in the Light. She, not even for a second, believed the holier-than-thou persona the old man tried to convey to his students and staff. And because of this, the old man had tried tirelessly to keep an eye on her, sometimes to the point where he would request her to remain in the school during Christmas break, undoubtedly so that he would be able to know everything that she did. This scrutiny of her every action that the headmaster had been so keen on doing, made her all the more determined to figure out why the headmaster was so adamant to keep her under his nose. And what she found out in her third set the course to what the headmaster was probably trying to prevent her from becoming; though still unknown to the Light, one of the most powerful dark witches of her time.

She was only in her fifth year when she finally got to meet the Dark Lord. At first she had been wary of the man but as they continued to meet over the years, she got to see a side of the Dark Lord not many were privileged to see and it was then that all her doubts about leaving behind all she had known disappeared. To the Light and to ensure that Dumbledore had no suspicions, she kept up her Gryffindor façade and even dated Potter, but she knew that inside, she was a snake; a snake worthy of the Dark Lord and no one dared challenge her power.

It had taken her years to master the Dark Arts but fortunately the Dark Lord had patiently put her under his wing, contrary to what others believed. But now, the only man she would ever love was gone and her emerald eyes hardened with such intensity, it would have scared the dead. She was brought out from her musings by the opening and closing of the door. Pulling out her wand to whoever it was that had violated the rules without her knowledge and entered the restricted area, she found a man, whose very robes screamed of wealth and long blonde hair that was tied loosely behind him, standing by the door and staring calmly at her pointed wand.

Lucius Abraxas Malfoy was a much respected man, both through the good deeds he had done for the Wizarding World and many more for the ones that the people should never have to know he had a hand in doing. He came from an extremely old and wealthy line of pureblood wizards, all who have stood firmly in their belief that the Wizarding World would be better off without the mudbloods and their Muggle relatives meddling in their affairs. As of now, he was proud to be in the Dark Lord's trusted Inner Circle, helping to permanently separate the Wizarding World from the Muggle World.

"Severus told me what happened," he said in a grim voice, walking towards Lily, slightly disturbed at the darker shade of green her eyes had taken.

"I don't get it," she mused aloud, taking another large tome from the shelf. "I don't get it why he didn't try dodging the curse."

"Neither do I, Lily," he answered. "But both you and I know that the Dark Lord never does anything without planning two three steps ahead."

"But why didn't he bother telling me what he was up to? Oh I know he was up to something Luc, all those times he suddenly goes missing and returns stronger than before." said Lily, looking angrily at Lucius, demanding an answer.

"If I had the answers to all your questions, you know I would tell you. But I don't." said Lucius. "With the loss of the Dark Lord, Dumbledore's forces would surely try to bring down our remaining forces, but we can't let that happen. The time has come for you to take charge."

"I don't give a damn about those bunches of deranged Death Eaters! I can take Dumbledore on my own!" Lily snapped, tossing yet another useless book amongst the pile on the desk.

"Most of them are a bit unhinged, I agree. But those who have stuck with us are exceedingly loyal to both the Inner Circle and our cause. You have no choice! You are next in line in the hierarchy. You HAVE to take command, or else we would truly have loss to the Light." exclaimed Lucius.

"You don't understand Lucius; he can't die just like that. You know as well as I of the steps the man has taken to escape death." said Lily. "There has got to be an answer here somewhere; a spell, a ritual, anything to reverse the effect of the spell." She waved her arms wildly at the many shelves she had yet to peruse that lined the dark walls.

"This room contains hundreds of books about both Dark and Ancient Magic and this is only a fraction of the countless private collection of books the Dark Lord has in both the third and fourth floor libraries. He could have gotten a spell in a book in either of those places. It would take you months to read through all of that!" said Lucius, trying to make the enraged woman see sense.

"Don't you not want him to return Lucius?" questioned Lily in a tone he did not like.

"What do you mean?" he asked warily.

"I want him resurrected and you seem determined to stop me from doing that. Are you tired of being third in command, Lucius? Do you think that because he is gone you can take charge of the Death Eaters? You should know by now that I more ruthless than the Dark Lord." said Lily, her eyes flashing in malevolence, taking a much darker shade of green that it almost looked black and stared darkly at the blond man.

Being shaken to the core by the accusations would be understatement as Lucius cowered back at the sight of the woman who was now walking slowly towards him.

"So tell me, Lucius, is that what you want?" she asked in a hard tone, her wand now held at a ready.

"M…M…M… My Lady, ne… ne… never would I… I…I dream of such things." Lucius stuttered shamelessly.

"Sometimes you make me think otherwise, Lucius." said Lily in dismay.

"My Lady…. Lil, I have always been loyal to you and the Dark Lord." exclaimed Lucius. "You know that!"

Lily stared right through him as if she was trying to read his mind. He cringed slightly at the weight of her dark eyes upon him but soon sighed in relief when he noticed her eyes reverting back to a much lighter shade. "Do I really know, Lucius? Do I?" said Lily softly, a faraway look in her eyes. "How do I know you won't turn your back on me?"

"Lily!" cried Lucius walking towards the clearly confused woman. "Never Lily, never have I thou–"

But before he could finish his sentence, Lily's eyes snapped back to face him; darker and more frightening than before. "Get out Lucius! I don't want to see anyone right now. GET OUT! I will deal with the Death Eaters when I feel like it." she literally screamed at him, her long finger pointing at the door. "OUT!"

Lucius gladly bowed to her and scurried out of the room; pleased that she hadn't decided to release her pent up anger on him. A part of him pitied who ever it was Lily was bound to choose later to let loose her anger on; those who thought that the Dark Lord was a maniac and a monster clearly had never met the Dark Lord's right-hand man or woman in this case.

Inside the confines of the Dark Lord's Private study, Lily returned to her feverish search of the shelves, screaming dark curses at no one in particular every now and then. It was only at the rustling of the curtains did she stop, midway through tossing a book, and pulled out her wand, directing it at the sound of the disturbance.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" she shouted, eyes wide open, searching the room.

Slowly, from within the darkness of the room, a shadow of a wizard emerged. If Lily had not been keeping a tight hold on her wand, she would have dropped it in a clutter at the sight that greeted her. Nearly stumbling over a large tome that littered the floor as she moved backwards in shock, she whispered harshly. "YOU!"

The spectre image of a wizard that came out from the shadows looked as if it wasn't expecting to appear in the dark room and looked confusedly at his surroundings. The sound of a woman's voice made him turn around. Ruby red eyes, the only thing not transparent, stared at a pair of shocked dark emerald eyes. "Lily…" it said in a voice that sounded so far away.

Lily's eyes widen even more and stopped her retreating steps. "How?" she wondered softly, unable to get her voice. "Are you a ghost?"

The spectre image of the Dark Lord stared at his transparent hands in wonderment before answering. "I don't think so, for I am not dead."

"Not dead?! I saw you take the Killing Curse! How can you not be bloody dead?" cried Lily, seemingly forgetting that she was talking to a transparent, floating Dark Lord.

A ghost of chuckle reverberated throughout the room and the Dark Lord floated towards Lily. "Even when in a plight, you can't help but argue can you love?"

"I saw you die, Tom. What do you expect me to think?" said Lily.

"I'd expected you think that I would never do anything as Gryffindorish as to take on the Killing Curse head on without a plan," replied the Dark Lord, a smirk on his transparent face and floated towards the woman who was fidgeting slightly.

Lily wisely chose to keep quiet and look slightly bit chastised. The Dark Lord laughed at her uneasiness.

"I am not one of the living, as you can see," said the Dark Lord. "Nor am I one of dead as well; I've been merely ripped off from my body. A spirit, if you may."

"But how?" asked Lily once more, reaching out her hand to try and touch the Dark Lord. But instead of feeling nothing like she'd expected, her hand felt something cold yet alive.

"What I am about to tell you is strictly to remain a secret within the Circle." said Voldemort in answer to Lily's questioning look.

"Tom, this place is restricted to all but the Circle lest they want to die a most pain filled death." replied Lily, getting a tad bit impatient with the way the Dark Lord was answering her.

"We can never be too careful," came his reply." Have you ever heard of the term Horcuxes?"

"Not in its plural form, no." said Lily after awhile. "Don't tell me…"

"Yes." Lord Voldemort said, pleased that he did not have to explain it in detail.

"How many?" inquired Lily, her eyes narrowing at the spirit before her.

"Seven."

Lily seem to consider this for awhile before walking away from the Dark Lord to move towards a shelf in the far corner of the room she had yet to search. A large, untitled, leather bound book was what she grabbed from top shelving. "Does Dumbledore know?"

"What's with the twenty questions?" asked Voldemort who had followed her to the other side of the room.

"You ripped your soul seven times, Tom. I have the right to know why you did it. Especially after what you put me through, I could have cursed my own brother for Salazar's sake." said Lily.

"Very well, since I'd greatly appreciate it if all my Death Eaters are able to remain functional when I return," Voldemort replied.

"Pray tell me how you plan to return."

"There is no need for you to take that tone with me Evans. Firstly, if none of you knew of my plans, do you think the old man would know of them as well? Second, there is a ritual that allows me to be reunited with my body." said Voldemort.

"And what is this ritual?" asked Lily, getting used to the idea that the Dark Lord was indeed still alive albeit without a body.

"Therein lies our problem," If a Dark Lord could speak sheepishly, then that would be how it sounded.

"I knew it," Lily raised her hands in defeat and walked away from the tomes of books that were in the shelves. "How do you plan to strike terror within the core of wizards if you can't even touch them?"

Annoyance flashed on the Dark Lord's face at those words and Lily immediately regretted letting loose her quick tongue. "I will get my hands on that ritual and you will lead the Dark in my stead."

Lily was about to open her mouth to argue with the Dark Lord's orders when said lord floated directly in front of her. Even in this form the Dark Lord still looked menacing.

"You will take up my seat and be known as Lady Moraga. You're time has come."

"But Tom, it is yours. Not mine. " started Lily, seeking the Dark Lord's eye.

"Things wouldn't have happened this way had I not thought you ready to take up the mantle of leading the Dark." said the spirit of Lord Voldemort.

"Yes, but –" Lily began only to silenced by the Dark Lord's glare.

"I have told you from the very beginning that you're going to be leading the Dark alongside me and this little hitch in our plans will not hinder us from reaching our goals, Lily. You will take up the role of Lady Moraga, like you were meant to be, and step up to be the Dark Lady, ruler of Darkness. Do not let the others see this moment of weakness of yours or else they will take down what we have built from the inside out. Do you understand?"

It took her a moment to get back the collected composure she was known to possess and to rid herself of the emotions she had felt earlier, before finally managing to look at the Dark Lord straight in the face. Taking a much needed deep breath, she spoke. "Yes, My Lord. I will lead the Dark in your stead until the day you return. I shall be your chosen equal, Dark Lady Moraga, Queen of Darkness and to make sure that in your absence, our foes will not bring down all that we have worked for."

The Dark Lord gaze softened as he watched the fire return once more into the eyes of the fiery woman who had captured his heart all those year ago. Not one for sentimentality, especially not when he was weakened like this, Lord Voldemort drifted away from the red haired woman.

"I will return." The Dark Lord Voldemort said one last time before disappearing once more into the shadow world.

Lily watched as the essence of the Dark Lord disappeared before her eyes, knowing that not all was lost after all. And if the Dark Lord said he would return, then he will return. May it be days, weeks, months or even years; they would wait for the return of the Dark Lord.

"Dobby!" she cried and a house-elf with bright orange eyes appeared before her. "I want you to inform the Circle to meet me in the audience chamber at once."

The house-elf bowed at her before disappearing in a loud pop.

It was now the beginning of a new era of darkness; the time had come for Dark Lady Moraga to bring up the helm.

Dark Lady Moraga. Lily smirked. It did have a nice ring to it. Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would.