A/N: I Don't own anything.

A/N: Warning this story contains slash, a more grey Tom Riddle who does not go by Voldemort, and a bad Dumbles. Warning Harry is sort of a squib. He will have magical abilities but will be unable to use wand magic. Pairing is Tom/Harry.

A/N: This is a severe AU. It is Dark in many ways and there will be depictions of child abuse and violence

A/N: If you don't like the way this chapter is written please try out the next one at the very least. It will be written in an actual person's POV not an All knowing narrative.

In existence there are an infinite amount of universes and worlds; and each of these have an infinite amount of parallels and alternates to them. But what is a universe or world? What is a parallel or alternate? What are they to each other? A World is were a unique set of rules exist with beings living in these circumstances. One World could be like the manga Naruto; while another could be a like the book The Lord of the Rings. They are completely different and separate from one another though there might be alternates of these worlds were their rules and beings collide. A crossover of these worlds if you will.

A Universe is where something in the rules or beings of these worlds differs majorly from it's central world. Lets take the world Naruto for example. An Alternate Universe of this world could be something like Madara Uchiha dying early in his life. That is something so major in the make up of the World that the break from the main World does not cause a Parallel, but an Alternate Universe. A Parallel applies to both the central World and its numerous correlating Universes. A Parallel is were a minor change in the world cause a major or minor outcome than from its original.

Lets take the World this story centers around. This World is the Magical World that centers around being called Wizards, Muggles, Centaurs, and Goblins among several other species. In this World are important central figures named Harry Potter, Tom Riddle, Albus Dumbledore, Godric Gryffindore, and so on.

Now in the central World a boy named Harry Potter grows up neglected in a cupboard. He discovers he is a wizard and goes to a school called Hogwarts. There he faces Trolls, three-headed dogs, a deformed Dark Lord, giant snakes, an animagus traitor, and life threatening tournament. He kills Tom Riddle who wants world domination and massive extermination.

Now in a Parallel of the Magical World a minor change could have been something small like Harry Potter taking Ancient Runes instead of Divination or maybe he became friends with Neville Longbottom instead of Ronald Weasley. A major change may be Harry Potter finding out he is a Lord of the Potter Family. Sure this change has spawned many Universes, but it in itself a not an astronomical change. This is because in most instances the Parallel still follows the bones of the main Worlds rules- it's story in other words.

An Alternate of the Magical World is much more significant like Tom Riddle Jr. wanting different ideals for the world then the extermination and slavery of non-Purebloods. Such a significant change in the World's makeup does not cause a Parallel world but an Alternate Universe instead. In this Universe Tom Riddle wanted Magical Traditions back. He wanted a clearer separation between the Muggle world and the Wizarding one. He didn't care about blood types, but power. He wanted beings and wizards to be considered equal like it used to be before Muggle prejudice set in. He wanted only two real classes. The Nobles that came from Merlin's Order and the rest of the population.

In this Alternate Universe Albus Dumbledore set up false propaganda of Tom's goals and caused a war to keep Tom from getting his wish. In this Universe Albus wanted to mold the Wizarding world with the Muggle one. He wanted the Muggle prejudices to stay against the Creatures like Goblins and Werewolves. He wanted Half-bloods to rule and Muggleborns and Pure-bloods to scrape around with each other. In this Alternate Universe Harry Potter was used as a mindless weapon against Tom and eventually rebelled joining Tom's side.

That is what an Alternate Universe is, but enough of that. I could go on all day about this as well as tell you about a completely other entity that ties in with all this called a dimension. But the story I'm going to tell you is not of this Alternate Universe or even about the mechanics of Universes in general. It is instead of one of the infinite Parallels of this Alternate Universe. It is of how one minor change led to a major change. That while staying in the boundaries of that Universe; changed the story of it into something much more interesting.

Actually it's quite fascinating how this little change created such a widespread butterfly effect.

Lily Potter of this Universe loved performing the magical acts themselves, but when it came to Magical Culture she thought of it with only contempt. She thought of it as behind the times of her Muggle Culture and she never really understood that the cultures were not ones running on a timestream with one behind the other,but separate ones going in different directions. Both cultures were no better than the other; they just simply were. Both of them had there reasons for their shape and being; and in fact most of the problems that came into the Magical culture actually came from others trying to shape it into the Muggle Culture. Racism did not come from the Magical culture, but instead originated from the Muggle one. Stagnation came from too much forced Muggle influence that led to desperation from those of Magical origin to refuse to move forward as they were meant to.

Lily Potter did not know this. When she saw fire torches; she thought of barbarianism. She did not contemplate that they were mainly ancient and decorative in nature. She did not think of how buildings like the Ministry used magical glowing crystals instead. All she mourned was a lack of Muggle light bulbs and switches. When she heard of how the Nobility still had a major hand in the running of the Wizarding world. She only thought of them in terms of Muggle Nobility. Patriarchal and behind Muggle times for the most part. She didn't think of how gender had always been equal in this culture unlike her own. She did not know that most of the Noble Families were gifted chosens appointed by Merlin himself. The one Magic itself chose to voice it's actions through.

When she heard of Noble Families trying to bring back their holidays that had been banned for five decades; she had been glad at their failure. She thought of Samain and others like it as evil rituals as they were depicted in Muggle history. She never checked to see how different the two were. She like many Muggleborns thought of Wizarding Culture as an archaic version of the Muggle's instead of another one entirely.

Lily sighed impatiently as she waited for Mid-wife Healer Cacophonous Nott to finish his scan. Cacophonous or better known as Caco was a Pureblood. He was considered the best in his field and catered to the rich who were halfbloods and other Purebloods. He had never worked with a Muggleborn mother before. Observing the odd symbols and streaks of magic centering around Lily's abdomen he nodded to himself regally. Meeting her gaze he spoke is voice was smmoth, "Congratulations, Mrs. and Mr. Potter. Your three weeks along, so be ready for a summer baby. Your son should born late July or early August ."

James let out a joyful laugh as he turned and kissed her passionately. Holding her face between his hands he stared into her eyes, "A boy," he murmured his eyes misty, "We're having a son, my Lily-flower."

Lily smiled unable to keep a serious face at James's infectious smile. Hugging him they were both shaken from their reverie by a throat clearing to her left. She met the fond eyes of Healer Caco as he spoke warmly, "I'm going to go over some things you will need to know for the rest of your pregnancy and after we can discus the actual birthing process. First you should eat healthy during this time. If you want to eat junk you should save that for when another life is not depending on your eating habits. That means no alcohol of any kind. You will experience cravings that may very well contain junk food. It's perfectly fine to eat this. It's the baby's way of telling you what it needs."

The Healer handed over a thin book that contained nutrition information before continuing, "In a few weeks most women and male bearers will experience nausea and even vomiting. We call this the Maternal Sickness (Muggle term is Morning Sickness). You will experience this at different times of the day and even multiple times a day. I would suggest you find a favored tea that does not have a strong flavor or smell and that you come to love the taste of Saltines. They will calm your stomach. I also suggest you stay away from strong smells like bacon cooking. On the upside the Maternal Sickness will disappear after awhile."

Healer Caco gave her a sympathizing smile at her grimace. It also took her a minute to understand that the Magical world used a different term then its Muggle counterpart. She ruefully admitted that theirs was even better as it wasn't as misleading as the term Morning Sickness.

"Now your going to experience joint pain on top of general aches and pains as the pregnancy progresses. This is normal if unwanted. The only thing you can do is have your husband give you massages and take a warm bath with Drimere's Muscle Relaxant poured into the water. Do not apply it directly to your skin like you would if your were not pregnant. The Flobberworm blood is toxic to the liquid in the womb. It will kill your child. Also for the next few months do not brew any potion no matter the circumstances. Inhaling the fumes is toxic to the child. It can cause birth defects if not right out death for the child. Here's a list of potions that are safe to use as well as their application," Healer Coca lectured as he handed her a pamphlet.

She frowned at how few potions were allowed. Though she ruefully admitted that it should be small as how many people were willing to endanger their baby just to test out a potion. Thoughtfully she realized that she could make a major breakthrough here. As a Potions Mistress she knew how ingredients reacted and such. She could probably look at the recipes and figure out which ones could be added to the list. Though she would wait until after her son's birth. She would just have to save the placenta to experiment on after her son was born. Frowning she considered the no brewing order. If she were to create a spell that would cleanse the fumes then she would have no worries at brewing the potions. While she wasn't on the level her ex-friend, Severus, was at creating spells. She was considered a genius for a reason. Pushing her thoughts away for later she tuned back in to Healer Caco's lecture.

"-so do not cast magic during your pregnancy."

Lily nearly cussed. Do not cast magic? That order was ridiculous! Why should magic usage be forbidden? She focused on the conversation hoping for a better explanation; unwilling to tell the man she had zoned out of the conversation. How embarrassing would that be?

"You need to buy some Maternal Clothes. I would recommend Efscofts Comfortable Wear. They have the best fabrics and passive spells for Pregnancy stabilization. Wear them every time you travel, but do not travel through appariation nor portkey. They will cause miscarriage. You can still use the Floo and Knightbus. As I said before your body is very delicate right now. You should not strain yourself. So stay off your feet as much as possible and for the last month of pregnancy stay in bed as much as possible.-"

That's why they didn't want her using magic she realized. She was smug that she didn't have to embarrass herself by asking for the man to repeat himself. She felt disdain well up in her as she considered the advice. Sometimes she felt utter contempt for how behind the times the Magical world was from the Muggle one. Women in the Muggle world had long since worked tilling farms and doing other activities while pregnant. The idea that a woman had to lie in bed for her entire pregnancy had long since been disproven. As long as she took her last two months easy her 'delicate body' would be fine. Inwardly sniffing in disgust she thought how she had nearly had to stop using her precious wand for nine months just because the Magical World was still in archaic times! Sure she wouldn't cast anything to powerful, but she could bloody well use some minor spells.

Looking at her husband who was rapt in his attention towards the Healer; Lily's brows furrowed. Her husband had grown up on this outdated information and would be too stubborn to be made to see sense. His own mother's birthing difficulties would make him even more careful than he normally would. Grimacing she remembered how patronizing it had felt with him refusing to let her cast a spell or even get anything. No, she decided, she would have to do these things when she was alone.

Three Days Later...

Dorea Potter smiled as she received a letter fr om her son. Reading it she shrieked in excitement. She was going to be having a grandson! Looking around she checked the time and sighed as she noticed that it was too late to tell her husband the good news. Leaving the letter on the table for Charles to read when he came in from work. Dorea glided up her stairs and walked towards her dressing room. Impatient she dressed quickly and even grabbed a pair of shoes that didn't go with her outfit. Shoving them on she rushed to the Appariation point in her entrance room.

It was this action that changed split her universe into a Parallel of the Main Alternate Universe. In the Main Universe Dorea Potter had picked up her shoes that had gone with the outfit she was wearing. Those shoes she had checked two days before and knew to be in perfect condition. The ones she had grabbed in her hurry were an old pair she hadn't worn in a couple of years. She had not cast a Reparo charm on them in that time so the hair line fracture in the tall heel went unnoticed by her.

Appearing in her daughter-in-law's and son's cobbled pathway. She made her way to give Lily a surprise visit and to take the beautiful red head out to do some baby shopping. As she walked he heel snapped and the elegant platinum blond woman careened into a flower pot shattering it and drawing a surprised pained scream from the woman.

Inside the cottage Lily heard the ruckus and put away her wand from were she had been lifting a huge vase magically to a table. Running outside the Lily saw Dorea laying on the ground and she immediately attended to the woman. Helping her inside she fixed her some tea and the two of them chatted for the better part of an hour. Finally the two got up and headed to Valencia Alley in Italy to get baby furniture.

In the Main Universe Dorea Potter's heel did not snap and because of that the woman entered the house unnoticed. Seeing Lily casting magic had caused the woman to lose her famous Black Family temper. Lily had soon been disarmed and informed of why magical pregnancies differed from muggle one. Not only had Lily lost a good deal of her arrogance in regards to her muggle upbringing due to this. She had also realized that the two cultures weren't as similar as she had assumed. Due to this she had gained a certain respect for the magical world and had followed her Healers advice.

In this Parallel Universe Lily never received that tongue-lashing from Dorea nor did was she ever caught using magic by her relatives. So the universe diverged from it's original and became a parallel. All due to one lone crack in a shoe.

A/N: In the next chapter this story will cease talking about alternate worlds and thing for the most part. It will also lose the POV I'm telling it from. It will be told from actual people's POV not an all knowing narrative. I will also explain just why magical pregnancies are more delicate that muggle ones and why Lily should not have cast magic.

A/N: Everyone usually writes Lily as someone who adapted to magical culture very well. She's a genius with magic and adored by all. I'm not writing her this way. In this story because she is so good with magic she gets a little arrogant about her knowledge. She assumes she knows all she needs to about how the world is run and condemns it as archaic not knowing she is making incorrect assumptions.