Author's Note:

Hello and welcome to my story. I've been lurking around similar stories for months and months now, and I've finally sort of decided to give one a shot. The point of this story for me is to write something I'd want to read. In other words, I want to fix things I didn't like in all other similar stories to make one that is somewhat unique. I actually have an idea for later in the story that I have definitely never seen before, and it doesn't make me wonder how the heck Tom became so nice… ;) I don't know if this will be continued, but *nudge nudge* encouragement and lots of similar stories for me to read would greatly increase the chances that it will be completed.

My ultimate plan is for this to be slash. However, I don't even know how to write relationships, let alone slash ones. So if anyone has advice, please let me know.

All mistakes are my own. I do not have a beta and I do not want one, but I'd love it if you'd point out any errors spotted. I haven't actually read these books for ten years, so a lot of my knowledge will come from online sources or other fics which may not accurately depict canon. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me if I've misspelled a name or place or spell. I'm trying, but some things I think I know but I clearly don't…

Disclaimer: If I owned HP, Harry and Ginny would not have ended up together. Enough said.

Key (listen up please, I'll only say this once):

"Speech"

'Parseltongue

Thoughts

Please ignore any italics in this story – I do not intend to use any because it gets finicky, so any that may appear are unintentional.

Here we go…

Prologue

Under normal circumstances, Minerva McGonagall would not have disobeyed Albus Dumbledore's orders. She greatly admired the man, and would be loyal to him until her death.

However, these were not ordinary circumstances. He had just placed one-year-old Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived and the Wizarding World's newest savior, on the doorstep of muggles who, from what she'd seen, would not treat him as he deserved. On top of that, he had done so in the middle of a chilly November night with only a blanket for warmth. His relatives wouldn't find him for hours. And when they did find him, warming him up would be the least of their concerns. Minerva would put up with almost anything that Albus Dumbledore suggested, but this was definitely crossing the line.

It was for these reasons that Minerva McGonagall refused to let the child stay there. However, she also couldn't take him in herself. She lived and taught Transfiguration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for ten months of the year. The school was hardly a safe place for innocent eleven-year-olds, let alone a child who was just learning to walk. After running a list of potential guardians through her head, the stern woman decided that taking him with her for the night couldn't hurt. She'd look into guardians Tomorrow.

With pursed lips, the Transfiguration professor carefully scanned the length of the block. When she was sure that Albus and Hagrid had left, she scooped the basket up from the doorstep where her mentor had left it a few minutes earlier and apparated with a near-silent pop. Once again, the night was silent and still.

Upon arriving at Hogwarts, Minerva stayed awake only long enough to make sure young Harry was settled. She did not think to remove and inspect the letter that Hogwarts' Headmaster had placed in his blanket.

When she woke in the morning, Harry was gone, as were her memories of the previous evening. She shrugged the event off and continued with her daily life, not thinking on the youngest Potter's living conditions until nearly ten years later…

Albus Dumbledore knew something had gone awry when the blood wards didn't take. He did several magical scans of his newest acquisition, a device that would track the strength of the protections around his savior. All scans indicated that it was working properly, and yet…

Then he felt the alert from Hogwarts' ancient wards as Minerva entered through the castle's main gate. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that he felt the alert as Minerva and another, small life form entered through the castle's main gate. Immediately, he knew what had happened.

He waited a half hour after getting this alert. Hopefully it would give Minerva enough time to put Harry down and go to sleep herself. Once he'd waited for what he felt was an appropriate amount of time, he descended the spiral staircase leading to his office and swept through the old castle's stone hallways. He reached his deputy Headmistress's chambers moments later and overrode the password on the portrait guarding her door to gain entrance. As he'd suspected, his deputy and the Potter boy were both asleep.

Were someone to enter the room a mere thirty seconds later, they would find themselves alone with Hogwarts' Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration professor, and Gryffindore's Head of House.

For the second time that night, Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter stood on the front porch of number four Privet Drive. This time however, events played out much differently than the last.

The elderly headmaster was just kneeling down to place Harry on his aunt's doorstep when the door in front of him opened, and Petunia Evans stood silhouetted in the doorway. Upon seeing the eccentric wizard, she let out a shriek and, with more strength than he thought possible, pulled him and his bundle through the door and slammed it behind them.

That is how Albus Dumbledore got stuck explaining their delicate situation in person. He could see the distaste on the young woman's face as he told her she was now responsible for her nephew. For a few long moments, he seriously doubted the wisdom of his decision. But he'd already justified it to himself so many times that his reasons for leaving the savior with his only remaining blood relatives easily trickled through his mind again. He needed to grow up away from the fame of his new position. He would be with blood relatives, which is more than a lot of orphans could claim. The protection of his mother's sacrifice would save him from the Death Eaters they'd undoubtedly miss in their round-ups for as long as he could call this place his home.

Sometime during Dumbledore's explanation, Petunia's husband Vernon had made his way down the stairs to stand beside his wife. As the explanation progressed, his face slowly became a dark, unattractive shade of reddish purple. If Dumbledore had paid much attention to this warning sign, Petunia's distaste would be the last thing on his mind.

Finally, the elderly wizard finished his explanation with a strong compulsion for Petunia to take in the baby Harry. The poor woman was just in shock, he decided. Once she took the time to consider the situation, she would surely realize, as he had, that this was for the best.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Vernon and Petunia exchanged a glance.

Had Minerva left well enough alone, Harry's presence would have been tolerated until he started crying, at which point Petunia would have claimed a headache and Vernon would have shoved the young savior into the cupboard under the stairs. However, the appearance of not just one freak but two on that chilly November morning changed many, many things. If only Minerva had known…

The youngest Potter awoke with a cry and Vernon, whose patience had already reached its limit, grabbed the bundle roughly from his wife's arms and shoved it unceremoniously into the boot cupboard. He did not notice or care that the small baby's head had been bumped on the doorframe on the way in.

The door slammed shut behind Harry Potter, and an entirely new battle began. This one was between Harry Potter's fifteen-month-old mind and magic, and Lord Voldemort's newly planted horcrux. As one might expect, the horcrux won out almost immediately. After all, it had just separated from the main soul, and as such it had quite a bit of residual magic and strength. It pounced upon this moment of weakness in its new host's defenses as the only magic holding it at bay had shifted its attentions to the newest wound on the baby's head.

However, the horcrux could not take over completely. Its presence had just reached the infant's brain when his mother's protection suddenly flared again, pushing it back out. When all was said and done, the babe lay unconscious in a dark boot cupboard with a bump on his head, a horcrux in his lightning bolt scar, and an imprint of the horcrux's memories on the fifteen-month-old brain.

Author's Note:

As you might imagine, this will change the timeline quite a bit. I have heard about the newest HP play/book released … I don't particularly believe in that universe anyway, so whether it would have happened or not that course will be diverted before it can even begin. I'm struggling with how Tom will react to Harry in general when he finds out… any suggestions are welcome and even invited.