HP/LV: What if Harry found out he was a horcrux before he was meant to? What kind of path would that lead him down and to who would will he turn to when everything else around him falls apart. Dark Harry and slash.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of JK. Rowling works.

AN1: So I am back! Probably, most likely here to stay. I am a new mum which can at times become quite stressful, so here's to hoping that this fic will help relieve some of this. I have decided to RE-WRITE some of this as to help me get back into the groove.

AN2: So I have replaced Chapter One after to sending it away to my new Beta 94, who I have to thank for the amazing work she has done.

Mind talking: Voldemort and 'Harry'

-Parseltongue-

"Normal Speech"

Chapter One

Privet Drive

Harry walked into his bedroom at 4 Privet Drive slamming the door; he was sweaty, dirty and all together frustrated: he had spent yet another day slaving away for his so called family in the Dursley household. He hated living in that place and he just couldn't wait to be rid of his muggle relatives. Harry had not even been back five days and he was already starving and over worked.

Ripping off his dirty shirt in disgust and throwing it to the side, he crossed the room to his desk where a letter that looked as if it had been read a hundred times laid opened. Harry picked it up to read it one more time:

Dear Harry

I hope to find you well and that you are enjoying the start of your summer holidays with your family.

(Harry snorted, as if Dumbledore doesn't know how much Harry's family despised him)

I would like to drop in for a visit this Friday night at 8:00 pm if you do not mind. Please reply with Hedwig as soon as you can to let me know if this is possible.

I shall hopefully see you Friday,

Professor Dumbledore.

Harry was unsure how he felt about this upcoming meeting with the Headmaster. For one he had destroyed the other's office not even a week ago and he was pretty sure that were the Headmaster to lie or give him half-truths again, especially after he said he would stop hiding things from him, he was bound to blow up in anger once more, something that Harry wanted to avoid as he was hoping to get some questions answered and he was sure that if he got angry that would be the last thing he got. No, he had to show Dumbledore that he was mature enough to be treated like an adult.

Harry was so lost in his thoughts he didn't even hear the doorbell ring, it wasn't till he heard his uncle yelling at him to get down there, that he realised Dumbledore had arrived.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he walked into the lounge to find Dumbledore settled comfortably in an armchair, smiling dreamily at the Dursleys who were huddled on the family couch.

Dudley looked like he was about to wet himself from being in the presence of another wizard as he kept shooting Dumbledore furtive looks. While Harry had never seen his cousin so meek and weak before, the same could not be said about his Uncle.

Vernon was his usual angry shade of purple and if Harry looked hard enough he could see the vein around his Uncle's temple pulsating. Dumbledore looked over to Harry as he walked in but didn't say anything; instead, he turned back to the Dursleys:

"Judging by your dumbfounded looks Harry did not tell you I would be coming tonight."

The Dursleys just glared.

Dumbledore waited a moment for a response, but when he didn't get one just smiled and turned his attention to Harry:

"Good evening Harry, your family has been kind enough to show me in. I hope that you are well?"

"I am fine Professor." Harry replied, politely inclining his head, his eyes never leaving his Uncle who looked ready to explode.

"Excellent."

This finally seemed to rouse Vernon out of his silence who looked at Dumbledore as if he was out of his mind for thinking that there was anything excellent about Harry.

"YOU!" He turned his attention back to Harry with a glare. "How many times do I have to tell you that I DON'T WANT YOUR KIND IN MY HOUSE BOY!?" Vernon, in a surprisingly agile move, had jumped up from the couch and was now standing in front of Harry, who, used to this kind of behaviour, stood his ground completely unfazed by his uncle's threatening disposition. Ignoring him he turned to Dumbledore.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" He calmly asked, while keeping his face void of all emotions: there was no way he was getting into a fight with his uncle with Dumbledore sitting right there. Dumbledore seemed to accept the situation for what it was and stood up from his chair.

"Well my boy, shall we take this somewhere else?" Then, turning to his aunt, he added, "Petunia dear, would you mind if we conveyed to the back yard for a moment we should not be long." Harry's aunt glanced at her husband for a moment who seemed to be too angry to talk, before turning back to Dumbledore and giving him a small nod.

Dumbledore smiled and looked at Harry. "After you then Harry." Harry quickly led him out of the lounge before his family could say anything else.

The walk through the kitchen and out the back door gave Harry a moment to mentally run through what he wanted to discuss with the Headmaster. Harry had been doing a lot of thinking the past week and he had come to the conclusion that he just didn't know enough to be of any kind of service to the war effort. Knowing now that he was the only one able to defeat Voldemort he couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't getting any training to help him beat the Dark Lord. If there was one thing he agreed with Voldemort on, it was that knowledge is power and he needed all the power he could get. But, above all, he wanted to know why Dumbledore was so insistent that he stay in this house, doing absolutely nothing but sit there protected by wards Harry didn't even believe in anymore. He had too many questions and not enough answers, but he was determined to make sure that Dumbledore didn't leave until he received his explanations.

Upon reaching the back yard, Dumbledore noticed the Harry seemed to be deep in thought, so he took a moment to study him and was quite surprised with what he found. It looked to him like Harry had grown up in the past week, changing so much that it was startling: gone was the boy who didn't believe in himself, doing everything he could not to be noticed by others, afraid that people would see him as different. That Harry had just wanted to be normal, something that had always baffled Dumbledore given the power the boy had, but it had made Harry more willing to follow Dumbledore's plans without asking too many questions, which had suited him just fine; unfortunately, this Harry didn't seem to want to hide away from the world anymore. He stood with confidence and determination, emanating strength and power. Looking into his eyes Dumbledore was shocked by the amount of intelligence and coldness that he could find there, his own eyes narrowing at the similarities between Harry and another wizard: could it be that Voldemort was influencing him in some way? Was Harry trustworthy enough to hear what he wanted to tell him? But then Harry looked up and Dumbledore also see the kindness and love reflected in his eyes, two emotions he knew Voldemort could never hope to understand.

Dumbledore made up his mind to keep a closer eye on Harry from now on, but that didn't mean he had to keep the boy entirely out of the loop, he just couldn't tell him everything: he had to take precautions in case there was any chance of Voldemort acquiring information through Harry. This was the safer option.

Harry looked at Dumbledore: "sorry about before", he said, gesturing back inside. "It really did slip my mind to tell them you were coming and, well, my family are not too good when it comes to wizards in their home, bad experience and all…" he finished lamely.

"Not to worry my boy, these things happen" Dumbledore said with a smile. Noticing that Harry looked like he had quite a bit to say to him, he spoke first: "Now Harry, I can see that you want to speak to me as much as I want to speak to you and I will listen to everything you have to say after you hear what I have to say, if that is ok with you?"

"That's fine Professor", Harry replied, now curious to find out what the Headmaster wanted to talk about.

"Firstly, you will be pleased to hear that all your friends have made a full recovery from your little adventure at the end of term", Dumbledore said with a big smile, "unfortunately, I must ask you once again to refrain from exchanging letters with them as it is currently too dangerous; I have also made your friends aware of this so they asked me to pass along their greetings."

Harry could have rolled his eyes: of course his friends would be together whilst he was once again left out of the loop.

"I would also like to update you about the many changes happening at the Ministry. Cornelius is no longer Minister and has been replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour who used to be Head of the Auror Department. The public thinks that a more military Minister is needed to face these dark times."

"It's good that Fudge is gone, but how do you feel about the new Minister? I heard that you had an argument with him. It was in the Prophet, though how much of that is true is anyone's guess."

"Ah so you heard about that. Hmm… well, for once the Prophet was right, I did have an argument of sorts with him."

"What about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Rufus wanted to speak to you and I wouldn't let him. It seems as he had the same idea as his predecessor in his last days of office, but as I told Fudge, your safety comes first so there was no way you would be popping into the Ministry in the foreseeable future. Besides, I very much doubt it would hold any interest to you."

This made Harry extremely angry but he kept silent. How dare Dumbledore just assume to know what he wanted without even asking him! Not that he actually wanted to go to the Ministry but he still should have asked him.

"Other than that, I personally think Rufus has the potential to be a good Minister and he definitely has a more decisive and forceful personality than Cornelius."

Dumbledore's vague answer gave Harry no insight on his opinion of the man, so he changed the subject.

"So when am I allowed to leave here?"

Dumbledore took a moment to look at Harry as if trying to gauge the reaction he would get from what he was about to say, but Harry's face remained expressionless. Taking a deep breath he began: "I am sorry to say, but at this point I do believe it is far too dangerous for you to be without the protection of the blood wards; therefore, I have decided that it is best if you stay here until the 1st September when I will arrange for a few Order members to take you directly to school", noticing the dangerous gleam in Harry's eyes he continued straight away, "Harry you must understand that I care about you very much and it's not my wish to keep you here, but as I have said your safety comes first to me and there is nowhere safer than-" He was angrily cut off by Harry.

"Nowhere safer you say, well while we are on the subject I have something to say about that!" Harry could feel his anger boiling just beneath the surface as he tried to remain calm, but Dumbledore was not helping.

"Harry," he began, but he was interrupted again.

"NO! I listened to you and now you will listen to what I have to say!" Dumbledore appraised Harry and thought it would be better if he just let Harry get this off his chest.

"I have been patient and I have always followed your wishes concerning my staying here, but I refuse to reside here any longer unless you answer my questions."

"Harry you cannot be thinking of leaving here."

"Well I am." Harry looked straight into Dumbledore's eyes. "My mother sacrificed her life for mine, which meant that you could raise Blood Wards. For as long as I consider this my home I am safe from Voldemort."

"Yes Harry, but what are you getting at?" Dumbledore looked at him in confusion.

"Does the protection my mother gave me run through my blood?" Something seemed to flicker through Dumbledore's eyes but Harry wasn't sure what it meant.

"Yes." Dumbledore said cautiously.

"So what did Voldemort take from me at the end of the Tri Wizard Tournament?" Harry asked spitefully.

"Blood. Harry, I know where you are going with this but you are still protected through your mother's love."

That did it for Harry.

"My Mother's love! HA! You will have to do better than that Professor! You just said that the protection is in my blood. The protection and my mother's love are the same thing and Voldemort has them! He can touch me now, in fact he made sure everyone of his followers knew that when we were in that grave yard." Taking a deep breath Harry continued, "Professor Dumbledore that protection you say I have ceased to exist the moment Voldemort took blood from me, so why are you making me stay here?" Harry's voice had progressively gotten louder as he was speaking, alerting his relatives to the noise he was making.

Dumbledore also noticed and quickly cast a silencing charm so the neighbours wouldn't hear.

"First of all Harry, I am not making you stay, I am asking you to stay. There is a difference." Dumbledore said sternly.

"Seems like the same thing to me! It's not like you give me much of a choice." Harry said, glaring at Dumbledore.

"Enough Harry! You will not speak to me that way. The Blood Wards are still intact and you will stay here." Harry didn't like the way he was being brushed off so easily.

"Speak to you like that! I will speak to you however I like, especially when you won't even give me a real reason to stay here. What if I am right? Than I am a sitting duck just waiting to be killed." Harry exclaimed loudly.

"And what would you have me do Harry? Maybe put you with the Weasleys so you put them in more danger?" It was said quietly, to make him feel guilty, but Harry saw it for the manipulation it was and just served to fuel his anger.

"You definitely know how to play the guilt trip. No, I wouldn't expect you to put me with the Weasleys. Headquarters is more where I was thinking."

"Headquarters has been abandoned since Sirius' death. He left it to you but we don't know if you are actually the new owner, besides I would have thought that would be the last place you would want to be."

"Well you're wrong, this is the last place I want to be. And there are ways of finding out if I am the owner aren't there?"

"Yes, there is one easy way: call Kreacher." Dumbledore said, frowning at the way Harry was reacting to him, slightly concerned by it.

"Kreacher!" Harry said. There was a moment before he heard a crack and Kreacher, the House Elf, was beside him looking murderously at his new master.

"Master" croaked the Elf looking like he would rather be anywhere.

"Well that settles that problem, Professor you can still use Grimmauld Place for the Order."

"Thank you Harry" said Dumbledore, but it seem Kreacher was having trouble accepting his new ownership.

"No! No! No! Noooo! Kreacher wants Miss Bellatrix; Kreacher wants to stay with the Blacks! Kreacher does not want nasty Potter brat! No! No! No!"

"Kreacher, shut up." The Elf had no option but to obey.

"Do I have to keep him with me?" Harry asked, looking at the Elf in disgust.

"Not if you don't want to," said Dumbledore, "if I might make a suggestion, you could send him to Hogwarts to work in the kitchen there. That way the other House Elves can keep an eye on him."

"Yes, that sounds alright" Harry was glad to have an option, as he didn't want the elf anywhere near him. "Kreacher I want you to go to Hogwarts and work in the kitchens with the other House Elves."

Once Kreacher disappeared, Dumbledore turned back to Harry: "now back to the matter that we were speaking about: you are safe here Harry, safer than anywhere else."

"But Headquarters is safe as well! I mean it's under the Fidelius Charm with you as secret keeper."

"Why is it that you want to leave here so badly?"

"I need to get out of here so I can learn things, Dumbledore. The Wizarding World is slowly falling apart because of Voldemort! I am apparently the only one who can defeat him once and for all and I am stuck here at my aunt and uncle's doing nothing, learning nothing. How do you expect me to bring down the most powerful dark wizard of all time? I don't have the knowledge or the resources to be any kind of threat. By making me stay here you are just going to get me killed. I should be using this time away from school to train! You should be training me because at this point we are going to lose!" Frustration and a little bit of anger leaked into his voice as he looked up at Dumbledore, begging him with his eyes to take him seriously.

Dumbledore looked out towards Petunia's new pergolas and gave a sigh, before turning back to Harry.

"I know you feel like you need to be doing more, but the answer cannot be found in books Harry, but in here," he said, pointing to Harry's heart.

Harry just looked at him incredulously as if to say: 'you actually believe what you're saying?'

Dumbledore noticed the look he was being given and tried to explain himself.

"The prophecy Harry. It states that you will have a power that Voldemort knows not. That power comes from within you. Voldemort has lived in the magical world a lot longer than you and he is a very knowledgeable man: I would even go as far as saying that he knows more about magic than I do. You won't be able to learn anything from a book or from me that he doesn't already know. So we have to look to what Tom doesn't know and will never comprehend."

"And that's supposed to be love. How is that meant to help me?" Harry said sceptically.

"It will, Harry. I promise you that when the time comes you will know."

Harry could have laughed, if it wasn't for the fact the Dumbledore was so serious about what he was saying. He didn't believe that love could more powerful than Voldemort, and now he was sure that he would not be getting any help from Dumbledore. He just wished he knew why the man was keeping him ignorant in the ways of magic, even if he believed that it was the power of love that was going to vanquish Voldemort, Voldemort after all wasn't Harry's only enemy. "What about the Death Eaters? Any one of them could finish off me right now."

Dumbledore responded: "The Order will protect you. Have no fear Harry, you are not alone in this."

Harry scoffed. How could he trust Dumbledore to keep him up to date? The man was actually willing to let Harry go into this war blindfolded. He was so screwed he might as well tell Voldemort to come get him now.

Harry was so angry with Dumbledore and even more so with himself for always following the man so blindly that he didn't even notice his scar beginning to hurt. Looking at Dumbledore like he had never seen him before, he continued:

"Alright, so you don't want me to know any more than I do." Dumbledore tried to interrupt him but he wouldn't allow it. "NO! Don't say that it's not true because it is! You have given me no reason to believe otherwise. I cannot understand why you would want to keep me ignorant and I don't want to hear any more of your excuses.

Harry took a deep breath to calm himself. "Now that we have established that you won't help me learn to defend myself with a wand, will you at least instruct me in the art of Occulmency? I feel vulnerable after what happened in June and I don't want a repeat of it."

"Harry I do believe that after what happen at the Ministry Voldemort is now using Occulmency against you so you won't have to worry about it anymore."

Harry felt amusement, but didn't understand why as he was anything but amused. Shaking his head and brushing the feeling off as nothing he said: "what good is that? He may or may not be using it against me now, but that won't always be the case. Professor, I need to learn this so I never make the same mistake again! I don't want what happened with Sirius to happen to any of my other friends. I will even take back Snape as my teacher if it comes to that."

"Professor Snape" corrected Dumbledore, but Harry didn't hear him as his scar suddenly seemd to pulse and then he heard a voice in his head.

What a lovely conversation you and the old fool are having Harry, very informative. I just thought to drop in for a friendly chat, imagine my delight at finding you having a very heated argument with your Headmaster. Not happy with him are you? I can't say I blame you. And on top of that I find out that Severus is indeed a traitor. I always had my suspicions. I have you, Harry, to thank for clearing that up for me.

Harry hissed, sucking in a harsh breath, pressing the heel of his right hand to his scar, and looking up at Dumbledore, panic clearly written across his face. Dumbledore, who seemed to understand what was going on, quickly helped Harry onto one of the outside chairs whilst Harry was trying to remember everything that Snape had told him about occulmency, which was not much, but still, he tried to clear his mind.

That's not going to work with me, Harry. You will just give yourself a headache. Now as I see that I have caught you at the wrong time I will make this short.

"Harry, look at me. You need to push him out. Now!" Dumbledore's voice reached him from the background, bringing him back to reality, but he refuse to meet Dumbledore's eyes.

Very good Harry, your mistrust in him is not misplaced. Dumbledore has been lying to you, keeping many secrets from you; secrets that will most definitely make you change your mind about a great many things.

'And why the hell should I believe you, Voldemort?'

I have learned a lot about our connection since the last time I saw you. Harry, it is important that you listen to me.

Dumbledore grabbed his face, looked deep into his eyes and dove straight into his mind. Harry tried to fight him. It was too much having them both present in his mind at the same time, so when that didn't work he took his frustration out on Voldemort.

'No, I don't have to listen to you. Now get the hell out of my head, snake-face!'

Didn't anyone teach you any manners? I am trying to have a civil conversation with you.

'Well that would have been my parent's job, but you killed them, don't you remember?' And that's when it happened, he felt Dumbledore give a huge push and Voldemort fell back but not before saying: I will just have to wait then. Goodbye for now, Harry. As suddenly as he appeared he was gone and Dumbledore withdrew from his mind.

Throwing Dumbledore a disgusted look Harry said: "so is this your idea of Voldemort not touching my mind, sir?"

Dumbledore looked shocked as if he never would have expected this attack from Voldemort.

"I am so sorry Harry. I really didn't expect him to try again so soon after the last time", he paused, then continued gravely, "what did Tom want Harry?"

"I don't know, but he found out that Snape is a traitor. I am sorry sir, but we were talking about him when Voldemort dropped into my head." He tried to sound at least a little sad at the possibility that Snape might be killed, but it didn't sound as convincing as he would have liked. Trying to change the subject, as he didn't want to think about what Snape would do to him when he found out that he was the one to give him away, even accidentally, he asked, almost pleadingly: "so will you teach me now?"

"Yes. Yes, I think it will be for the best." Dumbledore said absentmindedly. After a moment he collected himself and said: "Harry, I must be going now. I have to see Severus at once, but I will send you some Occulmency books for you to get started on." Before Harry had a chance to respond he turned on the spot and disapparated away.

Harry let out a cry of frustration and anger before marching back inside, passing his relatives who looked like they wanted to say something, but he just glared at them and continued upstairs to his bedroom.

He couldn't help but think that it might be time for him to break away from Dumbledore and the Order of Phoenix and try this on his own, especially now that he was sure that Dumbledore had no intention of giving him the training he needed. If he was going to learn how to defeat Voldemort, he would have to do it on his own. He didn't believe for a moment that love was the power he needed. He would start tomorrow by going through all his schoolbooks and revising what he'd learned so far: seeing as he was not allowed out of the house, it would have to do for now.

Hopefully, he would get a chance to go to Diagon Alley and more importantly Knockturn Alley. If his enemies used Dark Arts, he would also have to learn them, in order to defend himself from them if nothing else. He was pretty sure that Hermione and Ron would be horrified by the prospect of him practicing the Dark Arts, but then again they were very narrowed minded about this kind of thing. With his plan in mind Harry shut his bedroom door and turned off the lights.

Riddle Manor

Tom Riddle, better known as Lord Voldemort, paced back and forth in his study with a frown on his face. His ever-loyal familiar Nagini was curled up on a rug in front of the fire trying to sleep, but her master was keeping her awake.

-Will you stop that? I'm trying to sleep. - she hissed.

The Dark Lord just glared at her and continued pacing. He had just finished his conversation with one Harry Potter.

The boy couldn't hide his thoughts from him, which led him to overhearing the brat fighting with the old coot, which was very good for his plans. He also learnt a secret about one of his so-called followers, Severus Snape. He knew he couldn't trust Severus, especially after he tried to stopping him from getting the Philosopher Stone, but he had held onto the hope that he still believed in the old ways. It was such shame to have to kill him now as Severus was a very talented wizard.

Potter.

Merlin did the brat aggravate him like no other. The boy had no understanding of a civil conversation, 'though that may have something to do with the fact that you have been trying to kill him since he was born', he thought. Well, it's not like he can do anything about that now. What has been done in the past cannot be undone; he can only hope that he can get through to him now.

You see Voldemort had quite the wakeup call in the Department of Mysteries when he tried to possess Potter. He learned that Potter was carrying a piece of his soul within him; somehow, when he tried to kill Harry as a baby, he had unknowingly made him into a Horcrux.

It all made sense now. How Potter can see into his mind when he doesn't know the first thing about legilimency and how he can speak Parseltongue when the Potters have never been known for this ability. Armed with this new information and the full content of the prophecy, which he stole from Harry's mind, he now knew that killing Potter would be the biggest mistake of his life. The only problem now was finding a way to get Potter to stop trying to kill him.

It was obvious to him that Dumbledore would have refrained from telling his Golden Boy that he was expected to sacrifice himself, so perhaps if he showed Harry the truth about him being a horcrux, especially now that the boy was no longer happy with Dumbledore, he might be able to get the brat to keep out of the war. He wouldn't even try to convert the boy to the Dark side, the chances of Potter actually joining him being slim to none.

Voldemort strode out of his study and walked down the long hallway to his library. Opening the door he quickly walked over to his Dark Arts section and pulled out a couple of books containing the information that he wanted.

Back in his study he sat at his desk and went through the books, marking certain pages so that Potter would know what to read in order to learn what he needed him to.

"Minsky!" he called.

An elf popped in.

"What can Minsky be doing for Master?" asked the trembling creature.

"Take these books, wrap them up, and then go to the owlery and send them off to Harry Potter", ordered Voldemort.

Minsky looked shocked for a moment before pulling himself back together. "Is Master wanting anything else?"

Voldemort was about to reply in the negative, but he decided he should also send a letter to the brat. "Just a moment", he said, sitting down behind his desk. Pulling a fresh sheet of parchment out of the drawer he picked up his quill and wrote a brief message to Potter.

'Hopefully he will not burn it upon finding out who it's from', he thought.

Sealing the letter with his ring, he stood up and passed the letter to his elf who took it, along with the books, and popped away.

Voldemort walked over to the mirror and looked at his reflection: gone was the clammy skin and snake face, instead before him stood a man with extraordinary good looks and a powerful build. Dark black hair hung around his face, framing high cheekbones that added to his aristocratic good looks. The only thing that remained from his previous appearance were his startling crimson eyes that reflected his vast amount of knowledge and power.

But looks were frivolous things compared to the soul. Voldemort smirked at the memory of the ritual he used to merge back with his wandering soul that Potter had released from its container. The sanity he gained was worth the excruciating pain he had to go through. Now, with his mind once more intact, his plans were already going more smoothly and hopefully this time tomorrow, there would no longer be a boy-who-lived standing in his way. Who knows, maybe, if he played his cards right, he might just be able to win the boy over to his side, the thought of them working together causing Voldemort to chuckle all the way back to his bedroom.