A/N: I am completely re-hauling all of my stories. My writing style as changed a bit over the past few years and I find that I need to get my stories in a place where I can confidently say that I am happy with them. One by one I will be completely revising and editing all my stories. Savior in the Darkness is only one of the many.

Harry groaned as the world faded in and out of focus. Everything hurt, even his hair. At first, Harry wasn't sure what the cause of his pain or the near unconsciousness was but as another blow landed on his, Harry remembered quickly what had happened. He had let Dudley get attacked, by a Dementor no less. That in itself was a crime. The fact that he had spoken back to his Uncle only worsened his offense. Harry, in the eyes of Vernon Dursley, had committed the worst crime possible: endangering his family and having the gall to correct Vernon.

The teenager hissed as another onslaught of pain rained down on his already beaten form. Vernon was having a grand time in dealing out the punishment for his offenses. Harry wondered if the idiot trying to kill him. Harry supposed that yes; Vernon was trying to end his life. After all, Harry was the unnecessary burden that Dumbledore had placed onto his relatives when his parents had died. In all honesty, Harry was surprised that this hadn't happened sooner. His uncle had been beating him for years, but this was the first time that he had ever had to worry about his life at his uncle's hand. He wondered what had caused Vernon to finally snap: Was it the Dementor or was it that Harry had spoken out of turn? He supposed it didn't really matter as the end result would be the same.

'And everyone thought that Voldemort would be the one to do me in,' Harry mused cynically. That was the expected outcome, anyways. Well, to those that believed that the Boy-Who-Lived was telling the truth about the Dark Lord's return, so about a eighth of the Wizarding population thought that Harry would be killed by the Dark Lord Voldemort. Harry was well aware that the other 7/8's thought that he was merely crazy or a lying, attention seeking brat. It was hard to miss by the way that they had all looked at him at the end of the last task.

Harry heard a loud, resounding crack just as his uncle smashed the glass of his glasses. The only alarming thing about this really was the fact that the damn things were still on his face and therefore had smashed into his already worthless eyes. He had to hold himself back from screaming in pain as the glass shards pierced the fragile organs that were his eyes. He wondered if this was how the basilisk had felt after Fawkes had clawed out its eyes, the though fluttering away in the wake of pain. So distracted by pain, Harry didn't notice when the other beatings stopped or even when he slid into unconsciousness as the pain grew too much for his battered body to take.

"Severus," The snake-like voice hissed as its owner studied the downed Boy-Who-Lived. Even though the Dark Lord had regained his human-like appearance, the slight hiss of his voice had remained. Severus Snape looked up at his lord, uncertain to why he was being called out in front of the others. It was a known fact that while Dumbledore thought Severus belonged to the Light; that Severus was only loyal to the dark. Well, mostly known, as the Light was in the dark about the matter.

"Yes, milord?" Severus asked, truly curious as to what the Dark Lord would request of him.

"Have you found the home of Harry Potter yet, Severus?" The twenty-five year old face of one Tom Marvolo Riddle stared at his loyal friend, otherwise known to the world as the Inner Circle of Death Eaters. The Death Eaters were not just his servants but his confidants and friends. Followers that looked to him to better their world in the name of Salazar Slytherin, who had recognized the threat of muggles long before any thought them to be more than annoyances.

"Yes, milord," replied Severus. It had not taken that long to find the location as Dumbledore had only covered magical means of locating the home of Petunia Dursley nee Evans. While Severus himself could not harm the boy due to his oath, his lord was under no such stipulations. "Harry James Potter resides at Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Dumbledore, the idiot, only covered the home to prevent magic from finding it. The old coot forgot about muggle means of finding an address."

"Or perhaps he forgot that I grew up in the muggle world," mused the Dark Lord."Most seem to forget that there are no existing magical orphanages. One of the things that will change when we win the war."

"Perhaps. The old coot is not known for his foresight." Severus agreed as when some of the other Death Eaters fidgeted slightly as they too had forgotten how their lord had grown up. It was then that Severus realized only the inner circle was still present.

"All of you," Voldemort turned to address the rest of the present Death Eaters. "We are going to Surrey, Number Four Privet Drive. Little Whinging." The Death Eaters chanted the address so as to get it right before following the Dark Lord as he Aparated away.

Arriving in an area with identical houses lined up in a row it became clear that the only way to identify the different houses were the numbers on the front of the homes which proclaimed the addresses to any who looked. Locating and studying Number 4 Privet Drive caused all the wizards had to sneer in disgust. The house was perfection personified. There wasn't a blade of grass that wasn't perfectly even, or a flower that tilted to the side. It was almost like the muggles were compelled to have each plant perfect.

"Are you positive this is it, Snape?" Bellatrix spat, looking in disgust at the house.

"Yes," Severus sneered and if they didn't know the snarky potions master they would have missed the look of surprise that crossed his face upon seeing the place. It seemed that this wasn't what he had pictured the home of the Boy-Who-Lived either.

"That's odd," Lucius looked at the upstairs windows, bars blocking only one of them from view. "Why are there bars on only one window? And on the second floor as well? Wouldn't it be bars on both downstairs windows that would keep intruders out? I'm sure that is what the common muggle practice is."

Voldemort made a noise of agreement, remembering his own childhood experiences. This was not how he had pictured Potter's home at all. After all Godric's Hollow had been much more, well, homey. This place had a feeling of foreboding to it and Voldemort could guess that he was not the only one to feel it as most of his Death Eaters grasped at their wands nervously.

It was a tortured scream that interrupted their thoughts before dying down completely. The scream had come from inside Potter's home. That was another thing: Where were the blood wards? Blood wards had to have been constructed here when Potter became a resident, as they were activated where ever the person they were attached to live with family in a loving home. Not even when the Dark Lord had taken blood from Potter should the wards have fallen. That only left one option to explain their failure.

"Severus," Voldemort whispered with anger drenching his silky voice. "What do you know of Petunia Evans?"

"That horrid girl?" asked Severus with a sneer, remembering the ugly and wrathful sister of Lily with disdain. "She hated Lily with a passion. She absolutely despises magic, tried to push Lily out of a tree once in an attempt to knock the magic out of her. Why do you wish to know my lord?"

"What do you think would happen to a magical child if they went to live with her and her family?" The Dark Lord was dreading this answer but he also knew that the answer would decide his actions from this point onward. As it was, it seemed that Severus was unaware of exactly who Potter lived with. No doubt that was the meddling of Dumbledore. But that scream… it was almost all the answer he needed. He had to be certain and taking the wards down could be done while gathering the necessary information. It was a conversation that would take as long as the ward breaking process would.

Severus sneered as he answered. "The poor child would be abused beyond belief, probably in attempt to 'beat the magic out' like she tried to convince her parents to do to her sister. If I recall correctly, she had even attempted pushing Lily out of a tree in attempt to 'cure' her. Milord, why is that you would wish to know about that vile muggle?"

"I wish to know due to the fact that Harry James Potter currently lives with his only closest remaining blood relatives by the name of Petunia Dursley nee Evans and Vernon Dursley." The Dark Lord looked at the potion's master as the man understood and paled before swearing profusely. It seemed that Dumbledore would have a lot to answer for before the night was over.

Another scream filled the air as the final ward fell, prompting the Death Eaters and Dark Lord to rush towards the house in alarm. Breaking down the door and locating the screams origin in the living room that was just down the hall from the front door, they were met with a ghastly scene.

It took everything they had not to attack the muggle right then and there and kill them. Harry Potter was lying on the floor, broken and bleeding with his glasses smashed into his eyes. He was wearing to big clothing and looked almost as if he hadn't eaten since Hogwarts. Bruises, old and new, littered the visible skin and the boy was a sickly pale color.

All in all, they were all furious with what they found.

"Potter," Severus whispered, kneeling next to the boy. Harry only whimpered in response, indicating that he was only just aware of what was going on around him. Severus began to work immediately, pulling out vial after vial of Blood Replenishers and forcing them down the nearly unconscious boy's throat.

"My god," Bellatrix breathed in furry as Severus worked, not taking her wand off of the muggles. "Dumbledore better hope Siri doesn't ever find out about this. There would be nowhere on earth that he could hide if Sirius knew." Even with her and her cousin fighting on opposite sides, Sirius Black still adored family and everyone knew that if you harmed his family you better hope you died before he found you. It was the Black way and the one thing Sirius had never denied was being a Black.

The Dark Lord just stared at the small boy who he had once attempted to murder. At the graveyard, he had been slightly insane and hadn't thought about the age of the wizard he was attacking. To him, this was a slap in the face. A realization that he had never thought he would have to face. How could hate a small child; a child that was so like him that it wasn't funny? How had he ever brought himself to attack a baby and child in the first place? Had he truly delved so deep into the Dark Arts that he had lost all rational thought? The answers to those questions were hard truths he would have to face.

He turned to the fat, whale-like muggle, and invaded his mind. He may not have liked the answers to those questions but he could make it up to the child now by finding out all that his muggle…well, that the muggle knew.

Vernon Dursley was looking at the group of wizards in hatred and fear. He knew that old coot had been lying! The bastard had told him that nobody would care if he beat the boy. That punishment was fine in the wizarding world, that it was his right as the boy's guardian to make sure he knew his place in the world. The thoughts that ran rampant through the man's head made Voldemort sick as he pulled from the muggles mind. The Dark Lord sent three killing curse's at the family of- there wasn't even a word for what to call them; muggle would insult the entire species in a way that they didn't deserve. They weren't even worth the effort that torturing them would take.

"Dumbledore better run," snarled the Dark Lord as the family dropped dead. The inner circle looked at their lord in shock. They had never seen him this angry. "The old bastard gave them permission to treat the boy this way. He even encouraged it, telling them that Potter needed to know 'his place in the world'." Outraged cries filled the small room, killing intent making it clear that the 'Light' Lord had finally crossed the line.

"And they expect this boy to save them and the muggles after this?" wondered Bellatrix. Harry was Sirius' fucking godson. That as good as made him a Black in her opinion. And technically he was a Black from the blood of his grandmother, Dorea Potter nee Black, she mused.

"Grab Potter and take him to the medical wing of the manor," Lucius hissed to his friend. It was obvious the man was kicking himself for not noticing the signs. "You can treat him there." Severus nodded and used a portkey to exit the room.

Voldemort watched as the two disappeared back to Malfoy Mansion, closely followed by the rest of the gathered Death Eaters. Waiting until all his followers were gone the Dark Lord cast the Fiend Fire at the floor, sending a quick 'morsmordre' to the sky, before aparating away.

Harry whimpered as he felt his conscious mind return to the living world. He knew that he was no longer at the Dursley's but he couldn't figure out why he wasn't dead. Dumbledore wouldn't have saved him and that left only Voldemort as his rescuer. Not that that bothered Harry all that much but in the graveyard the man was quite insane and intent on killing him. Having the Dark Lord save him seemed counterproductive to that plan.

Harry was proud to say that he didn't panic until he opened his eyes and found nothing awaiting him. His eyes worked just fine, he could feel them perfectly but no images appeared before them as they opened. The glasses, Harry remembered, had shattered into his eyes during his beating. Harry felt dread in the pit of his stomach as he realized that could only mean one thing: they had blinded him permanently.

'Well,' Harry mused trying to make light of the situation. 'At least I don't have to see where I am. No dungeons or torture chambers for me!' It wasn't that much of a comfort.

"You're awake." Harry knew that voice and yet he still couldn't bring himself to care. If Voldemort had gone through the effort of saving him than he figured that meant that he wouldn't be killed or tortured anytime soon.

"Yes." Harry agreed, knowing that he didn't really have to. It was obvious that he was.

"You don't seem to be panicking?" There was a hint of confusion in the Dark Lord's voice. Clearly he had thought Harry would panic and lash out when realizing where he was. Harry knew that this was based on the Gryffindor persona that Voldemort had met until now. There was no longer any need to be the Gryffindor to keep Dumbledore happy, so Harry reacted the way he naturally would: like a Slytherin.

Harry turned his head in the general direction of Voldemort's voice. "No," he answered steadily. "Why would I? I know what happened. While the great Albus Dumbledore paid and encouraged my treatment, you rescued me from what surely would have been my death. So what reason is there to panic?"

Voldemort cast a considering look at Harry. "You are not as dumb as most make you out to be," he murmured in thought.

"People seem to forget all of the things that I do during the school year with last year being the most important. I won the Triwizard Tournament against three people older than me. How could I have done that if I was as stupid as I portrayed myself to be? With first year there was the stone w in the school, second year the basilisk, third year with the Dementors, none of that could be accomplished by a mediocre student. The Patronus is not an easy charm to master as a third year. Most seventh years cannot even cast it." Harry pointed out smugly.

"This is true and yet, the Wizarding World seems blind to it." The Dark Lord hummed. "I do apologize for our last meeting. Being a bodiless spirit for a decade left me with very little sanity and the ritual had only just been performed. Having a body does wonders for ones mental health."

Harry nodded, "Yes, I can see how that would be a factor. I do not blame you at all. You have far made up for the fact by rescuing me tonight. After thirteen years as a bodiless spirit, this is more than I could have asked for."

"And yet, it was I who lost my mind enough to attack a baby and land myself in that situation," countered Voldemort. "I assure you, however, that it will never happen again."

"Then we have no problem," Harry grinned.

"No, it seems that we do not." Voldemort agreed.

This would be the start of a terrifying and yet all inspiring alliance between the Boy-Who-Lived and the Dark Lord.

A/N: So there's the revised and edited chapter! Please let me know what you think! I hope to get the second chapter done sometime this week, hopefully by Friday (school is evil).

R&R, please!