Present day

The sound of a quill against parchment echoed around the unusually quiet dormitory as a small figure cloaked in darkness sat undisturbed in the corner window writing furiously into a black leather bound book, to a stranger the figure sitting would be no stranger but a saviour, Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. There wasn't a witch or wizard alive who did not know of the boy with the famous scar, the one who was prophesized to vanquish the Dark Lord Voldemort and the one to finally bring peace to the wizarding world.

With a humourless chuckle the writing stopped, and the quill was discarded without a second thought. With one hand the book was picked up and slowly blown on to dry the crimson ink while the other hand illuminated the words with his wand. Avada Kedarva coloured eyes regarded what was written while a sinister smirk slowly crept upon his face. Without warning the young saviour gave one final glance around the room and passed the book to his owl sitting on the perch beside him, with a few choice words the owl flew from the window as the figure silently descended the stairs without a second look back.

The next morning the only trace of the saviour were the words that were etched deep into the little black leather-bound book that now resided on the desk of one worried and angry Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

Today the wizarding world will fall, tomorrow the dark shall reign.

Six years previously

A shrill scream from Harry's aunt woke the small boy from his light slumber, he wasn't quite sure how long he had been locked in the cupboard, long enough he gathered for the hunger to pass and the broken bones in his body to finally begin the long process of healing but even that wasn't a good indication as the days seemed to blend into one and his body healed him faster than he believed possible.

Without warning the rickety door to the cupboard was unlocked and slammed open and bright sunlight invaded the cramped space along with a meaty hand which engulfed his hand pulling him forcefully out of the safety of the small, dark and dank room. A slight whimper of pain escaped Harry's lips as the delicate healing bones in his wrist were once again fractured and the torn muscles in his shoulders screamed in protest and the rough treatment his Uncle used on him.

Once out of the cupboard Uncle Vernon pushed his large frame through the open kitchen door and proceeded to throw the small scared boy onto the cold kitchen tiles.

"You freak! How dare you bring your-your freakiness into this household; you are just like your mother and your good for nothing father!" Aunt Petunia screeched at the small trembling boy whilst holding an open crumpled letter in her hand.

Uncle Vernon spat furiously "We feed you and clothe you and this is how you repay us? Becoming a freak like your good for nothing parents? I'll show you boy." His face began turning a dark shade of red with anger as he started walking towards the confused Harry lying on the floor.

Harry whimpered, clearly confused by this sudden torrent of anger from his Aunt and Uncle. "S-sir, please. I don't know what I have done." Harry backed away until his back pressed against the kitchen cupboards, emerald eyes flickering around the room like a caged animal desperately searching for something that could help him. "Please Sir, tell me what I have done wrong, I'll fix it Sir, I promise, I'll fix it."

"Tell you what you have done wrong? Oh! I'll tell you what you have done wrong." With that Uncle Vernon aimed a kick which landed on the side of the small boys' chest, a pained moan ripped itself from Harry's lips as fragile ribs cracked under the pressure.

"You lived you freak, that's what you have done wrong" another kick came his way, quickly followed by another; Harry forced himself into a feral position, a futile attempt to stop the pain which was being inflicted upon him.

"Your parents went and got themselves killed, leaving you; you should have died with them!" The kicks get harder as sobs which tore themselves from the abused boy got louder. One large hand reached and picked up the abused Harry by the hair and slammed him against the wall, blood trailing from a broken nose down a tear stained face. "Where are the freaks to help you now boy?"

The abuse continued as punches and kicks continued to rain down onto the confused child as his cries for help fell onto his Aunt Petunia's deaf ears, with a final punch the bruised, bloody and broken boy was thrown back once again into the dark secluded cupboard.

Harry sat quiet in the dark afraid of the wrath of the angry man if he made to much noise, his silent tears slowly running down his face in time with the blood seeping from his nose. Moving to sit up Harry bit back a cry of pain as he jolted his broken ribs, Uncle Vernon had gone one step further with his beating this time, and it would be harder to hide at school, if he was allowed out to go to school.

"Maybe I really am a freak" Harry whispered to himself, "maybe I really deserve this, what if they are right" Without warning Harry began to panic, he was alone-more alone than ever before, they had been right all these years, the beatings were for a reason, he really was a frea-

"Calm my little snake, you are not alone. You are never alone. Just shut your eyes, I am here as promised."

Harry instantly began to relax as the familiar silky baritone voice washed over him in calming waves, no, he wasn't alone, and he would never be alone. Closing his eyes Harry began to relax until he found himself in his place, his special place.

"Marlo..." Harry whispered softly, scared of raising his voice in case his dark haired and crimson eyed saviour and safety line disappeared, he was here, he had always been here.

"Come here Harry, I have you"

Without warning Harry ran towards the figure in his mind and threw himself into the waiting arms relishing in the moment of safety, security and sheer rightness of being held. Harry knew that this mindscape would not feel ebb the pain of reality, but in this world he could forget.

"You're here, you're really here" Harry murmured into black clothed chest of one Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"Of course I am here child, I said I would always be here for you, didn't I?" Tom or Marlo as Harry had taken to calling the figure in his mind as a young child claiming that everyone needed a nickname wrapped his arms around the small boy and pulled him close "What did they do to you Harry?"

Harry shuddered and clung to Tom's robes "They got the letter Marlo, it's true, I am a wizard! But...but Uncle Vernon was worse than before" Harry's voice trailed off from an eleven-year olds excitement of finding out his was as wizard the same as Tom into a scared whisper as fear clouded his every word.

Tom stroked Harry's hair in an attempt to calm the sobbing boy in any possible way he could while he whispered words into the young boy's ear "Hush now Harry...I will help you...I will always help you...now calm, there we go...let it all out, I am here."

"You're not going to leave me? Are you? Please don't leave me!" Harry cried as hysteria threatened to bubble over once more.

"I will never leave you my little snake."

Harry closed his eyes with a soft sigh; he wasn't going to be alone; he knew that Tom would never leave him even though people in the coming years would try and make him see that Tom was a bad person. Without warning a momentarily flicker of anger passed across Harry's face and his fists closed into tight balls as he thought of the man responsible for his suffering.

Tom looked down and frowned "What bothers you young one?"

"Dumbledore, Marlo" Harry mumbled into Tom's chest.

Lifting Harry's head up with one hand he regarded the tear stained emeralds with his own dark crimson ones "He will not hurt you young one, not while I am still breathing." Tom brushed the stray tears away from Harry's eyes as he thought back to what the young wizard had done for him.

Tom had first contacted Harry when the small three-year olds cries for help awoke the horcrux residing within Harry's mind, from that moment Tom had become irreversibly attached to the young boy in more ways than the link they shared.

Since that very moment they had met, Tom had begun to talk to Harry while sharing his pain and suffering, quickly becoming the only lifeline available for the small scared boy. Over the years as Harry grew Tom had explained the events with lead to the death of his parents helping solidify their bond to each other more.

Flashback

"Big snake, no too strange, Tommy...no, Marley...Maaaaarley...no, Mar"

"Little snake, what are you doing?" Tom interrupted the six-year-old Harry with a bemused expression.

Harry, who was currently sitting on the floor with his back propped up against Tom's leg, looked up with a confused expression "why making you a nickname, of course! Now be quiet please."

Tom raised an eyebrow at the demand Harry made but remained quiet none the less.

"Marls? No, hmmmm" With his tongue sticking out Harry regarded to teenage Tom carefully before suddenly exclaiming "Marlo! Perfect!"

Suddenly laughed Tom regarded the young boy "Marlo! Since when have I looked like a Marlo!"

Harry crossed his arms in agitation "since now! Anyway, since when did Daddy look like Prongs?" The young Harry instantly fell silent; he didn't know where that information had come from.

"Oh Harry...my little snake" Gathering the silent boy into his arms he attempted to comfort him. Even though it had been five years since the death of Harrys parents' the young boy still had hidden memories which would reveal themselves at impromptu moments.

Looking Harry in the eye Tom made a quick decision "Harry, I need to you listen to this story very carefully and not to interrupt while I'm telling it, do you understand?"

Harry nodded once before placing his thumb in his mouth, Tom fought the urge to scold him for resorting to such behaviour but resisted doing so seeing as the information he was about to share would possibly upset the child greatly.

"Do you remember our story about the Professor Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort, Harry?"

Harry nodded, vividly remembering the tale of dark lord and the leader of the light.

"Do you also remember that I told you not to believe that good always means good and bad always means bad?"

Once again Harry nodded up at Tom.

"Well Harry, I am Lord Voldemort"

Harry bolted upright, panic evident in his eyes. Without warning Tom grabbed his arm and pulled him back down "Remember what I said Harry! Bad does not always mean bad or evil!"

Sitting down Harry eyed Tom warily, not yet knowing what to believe, not yet wanting to believe that his kind Tom could have been so evil to other humans like his Uncle Vernon.

"Yes, I am Lord Voldemort but do not believe that I will hurt you dear child."

Tom shut his eyes briefly, quickly thinking of the best way to start his story.

"When you go to Hogwarts Harry many people are going to call you The-Boy-Who-Lived" Seeing the unsaid question in the young boys' eyes Tom continued.

"Before you were born, there was a prophecy made about me and you by Professor Trelawney while in the presence of Professor Dumbledore. Severus being my loyal spy overheard this prophecy and instantly came to find me to tell me. After viewing the memory from Severus, I managed to deduce that it was a fake prophecy, however in my anger and shock I, admittedly, nearly did not see it was a fake"

Tom sighed, here it was to get complicated and he hoped that Harry would see that he was innocent in this even though the wizarding world believed him to be the culprit.

"Severus had told me that your parents, Lily and James Potter, had gone into hiding with you to try and escape me. at the same time Peter Pettigrew, one of your father's best friends had joined my ranks and told me where you and your family were hiding. It wasn't until after that I found out he was a spy for Dumbledore."

Harry frowned, he vaguely remembered Peter babysitting him one evening and his father's joy at the fact Peter had managed to get Harry to sleep so easily.

"That same night I went to your parent's house and your father understandably tried to curse me on sight"

Tom laughed lightly at the memory of James Potter standing in the doorway of their home brandishing his wand like an old muggle sword.

"It wasn't until I handed my wand over and showed them the memory of the fake prophecy that they then finally believed me. I offered them a place in one of my houses to keep you safe Harry and they quickly accepted. Minutes later they were beginning to pack together a few belongings so they could leave that same night."

"I had gone upstairs with your mother Lily to help her while James fire called Sirius to tell him what had happened, it was at that time Dumbledore appeared with Peter having found out my plans." Tom hesitated for a second "He killed your Father Harry, I am sorry"

Unconsciously he slowly began to stoke Harry's hair while the small boy processed the information.

"I heard Dumbledore come up the stairs and I reached for my wand, however I quickly realised that your Father still had hold of my wand downstairs. Dumbledore came in and your Mother pleaded for him to save you Harry, he quickly killed her too leaving just me and you."

"This is the point when he tried to kill me, however he was unsuccessful. You see Harry, to cast the killing curse you must have a high affinity for the Dark arts, Dumbledore however does not for he is the leader of the Light meaning that he could not kill me, only render me temporarily injured and unconscious. With Dumbledore now believing that I was dead he turned to you Harry and cast a curse that gave you that scar"

Brushing his fingers over Harry scar he mused out loud "When casting the curse part of my soul which had become injured by the unsuccessful killing curse fled to you Harry, leaving me and you connected"

"Once awakened I found myself in the mountains of Albania, wandless, bodyless and missing part of my soul. It was only when you awakened the horcrux in your mind that we were able to finally connect to each other."

Looking down at the young boy Tom waited as the minutes passed for Harry to finally say something.

"You didn't kill Mummy and Daddy then?"

"No Harry, I promise that I did not kill your parents, but people are going to say that I did."

Harry tossed this information round in his head for a few minutes before curling up closer to Tom. "Then I believe you."

Tom sat shocked for a moment, surprised at the ease of the proclamation before a small smile spread across his lips.

End Flashback

Looking up at Tom, Harry smiled "I know you will keep me safe from Dumbledore, Tom. You promised."

With a ruthful grin Tom rolled his eyes "go to sleep you little monster, let magic heal you."

With a tired laugh Harry grinned softly before mumbling quietly "not a little monster Marlo, but a little snake"

An agitated huff from the older male was the last thing that reached Harry's tired ears.