Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and never will. The series and characters belong to the brilliant mind of JKRowling, and I do not make any money off of this. Also, the challenge was written by Severitus and she was kind enough to let people write stories off of this challenge and I do not make any money off of the use of this challenge.

Title: Into the Darkness
Characters: Harry Potter, Lucius Malfoy, Voldemort, Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, Narcissa Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley
Pairings: You'll have to wait and see.
Rating: M
Chapter: 1
Genre: angst
Words per Chapter: 3,063
Warnings:AU after book five, OotP spoilers, Dark!Harry, Bastard!Dumbledore, Slash, mentions/memories of mpreg, represse memories, Severitus challenge response, violence and language, and the standard whatever else this demented author manages to come up with.
Summary: Severitus' Challenge. Lies and deceit always get turned back onto those that created them. But when one lie goes so far as to wreck the life of someone, the creator will pay. Yet, what will happen to the people who it affects? Harry has had problems and is seeing through Dumbledore's manipulative ness at last. But when he finds out something that will bring even more things into light…Suddenly the dark side doesn't seem so bad after all.
Notes: This is the rewrite of chapter one, hope you like it.

Chapter 1

It was a quiet day in the halls of Hogwarts. Few teachers stayed at the school during the year and this year one that normally did no such thing stayed. One Severus Snape stayed at Hogwarts for a time. He was sitting in a comfortable armchair, staring into the empty grate of his fireplace. Even the dungeons were warm, the heating charms that were placed on the dungeons taking hold during the summer months. Severus was currently wearing a cotton button down shirt in the colour of green and a pair of black slacks. His robes would have been too warm for him to wear in the heat. The cooling charms placed on his rooms weren't helping much against the heat of his room. He was sitting in an armchair, staring into the flames that roared in the fireplace.

A knock came upon Severus' door. Severus looked at the door and stood up. He made long purposeful strides towards the door. His armchair wasn't far from the door. When he reached the mahogany door, he opened it. On the other side of the door stood one Lucius Malfoy. His platinum blonde hair was held by with a black ribbon, leaving his aristocratic features free for everyone to see. Severus' black eyes looked into Lucius' own silver ones. The two men stared at one another for quite a while, neither saying a word. Lucius finally tipped his head at Severus. Severus stepped aside and let Lucius walk in. The man did so, allowing Lucius entrance. Lucius walked in, looking around once again. It had been a while since he had last visited the rooms of Severus Snape.

"It has been a little while since we last saw each other. It is great to see you again Sev." He then turned around and pulled Lucius into a hug. Severus didn't return the hug. Severus' arms lay limp at his sides. Lucius pulled back and looked into Severus' face. He knew something was wrong; it was rare for Severus to not return his hug. The two had been separated from each other, despite the fact that it hadn't taken Lucius all that long to get out of Azkaban. "Sev, what's the matter?" Lucius' eyes held all the concern he felt for Severus in them. It was obvious that he was worried about the one man.

Severus looked away from Lucius and sighed. He knew that the man wouldn't likely remember. The reason Severus was upset was ingrained into his brain and it wouldn't go away no matter what he did. "You've forgotten what day it is, haven't you?" The tone of Severus' voice showed just how depressed the man was. This made Lucius feel worse. He hadn't expected the man to be that upset by everything. It didn't make any sense to him.

Lucius stood there, his hands on Severus' shoulders. He was thinking over what could possibly have Severus as depressed as he was. Whatever it was, it didn't come to Lucius' mind. "I'm sorry, but I can't recall what would be so important about this day." Lucius looked away. He seemed to be a little bit ashamed that he couldn't remember whatever it was that made Severus feel so bad.

Severus took a step back from Lucius and kept his eyes trained on the stone floor of his rooms. "It's the sixteenth anniversary of Daemon's death." Severus' voice barely hit above a whisper. When the words reached Lucius' ears, his eyes widened. He couldn't believe that he had forgotten such a thing. He knew that it would have been important to Severus. In fact, he knew it was important to him as well. The fact that he apparently hadn't remembered made Lucius want to hit himself over the head.

He took a step towards Severus and pulled the man into his arms once again. He held him close, not letting the raven haired man escape from the warm embrace of his arms. "Oh Sev…I know it has to hurt so much. It apparently couldn't be avoided though. I wish we could have avoided it. Yet we didn't get that wish." Lucius' voice started out strong, but wavered in the end. It hurt him just as much to think about the significance of Severus' words. It was one thing that they couldn't figure out. Nothing changed that little fact.

"He was only three months old, three months old," Severus began to chant. He spoke in a whisper. His entire body shivered as he fought to keep from crying. He didn't want to cry at all, not that it seemed to wish itself to happen. The tears threatened to fall from his eyes and Severus fought them with as much of his strength that he could muster.

Lucius began to rub Severus' back in soothing circles. He had learned over the years that it was the best thing he could do for the man. Severus had always tried to keep his emotions bottled up, but the simple motion of rubbing his back allowed him a form of released that helped Severus. This was something that Lucius tried to make sure he could accomplish. "I know he was three months old. We wanted him with such fierceness that most people don't understand it. Yet it appears that the Order had other plans. They were the ones that killed him my love. They came after us and killed him." He didn't let Severus go for anything. He wanted the man to open up a bit more. The only problem was that Severus appeared to change his mood from sadness to anger at those words. Lucius knew that was exactly what the man needed. He needed to focus on what had caused it, not what had happened. It was the only way to get Severus to rationalize what he needed. This was something that Lucius was open to doing.

Severus clenched his fists. His arms were still at his side, but they shook with his anger. He stayed in Lucius' embrace, but his posture became stiff and ridged. He felt an instant wave of anger. "Of course, you can't forget that they worship Potter's son. Don't you find it quite amusing that Daemon dies and two days later Potter's brat is born? Then they have the gall to think I'm still on their side. They are seriously wrong. They killed my son; I will not forgive them for that. I will never be theirs again. Never again will they get a chance to control me." Severus squeezed his eyes shut and let his fists unclench. Lucius only held Severus. He didn't respond or say a thing. He had his own thing to do and in some sense, he agreed with Severus. He had known that Severus had switched sides, but that he had only done so for Daemon's sake. The fact that they took the boy away pushed Severus back to the side that he should have stayed with. Lucius didn't let this slip though; he would take that secret to the grave with him.

Dursley Residence, Harry Potter's Room

A green eyed boy named Harry Potter stared at the ceiling of his tiny bedroom at number four Privet Drive. It was July thirtieth and it was only a minute and a half from midnight. He would soon become a sixteen year old. It registered in Harry's mind that once his sixteenth birthday hit he would only have one more year before he was considered a legal adult in the Wizarding world. This didn't mean that he would necessarily be an adult in the Muggle world, but he knew that it was different for Wizards. He turned his head slightly and looked at the clock. The red letters at it flashed 11:59pm. Harry let out a sigh and looked at the ceiling once more. Time seemed to be passing slowly for the boy.

'I've spent so many years listening to the headmaster and look where it's gotten me. I lost Sirius, I got stuck in Occlumency lessons with Snape and when that's all over with, I get shoved right back to the Dursleys. This doesn't make for the best summer imaginable. I wonder how much of it he does to keep me in control,' Harry thought to himself as he stared away. His green eyes seemed to shine in the darkness a bit. They had an eerie glow. It was the type of glow that one would expect from an animal if their eyes were hit by a light. Harry didn't register anything for several more moments; when he did, he looked at the clock and noticed that it said 12:03 am.

Harry instantly sat up and looked at the window. He didn't exactly expect to see anything at the window, but he could easily hope. He let out a sigh and saw that it was empty. There were no presents for him that year. He knew that the wizened headmaster of Hogwarts had informed the others to not contact him for their own safety. It was also an issue that the letters might be intercepted and tampered with. Then again, he also knew that it had to meet with the headmaster's approval if it was even an emergency. This made Harry doubt the man even more. He had to question what kind of control the man was trying to have over him.

'I would have hoped that the little ban would have been lifted for a tiny bit. It appears that it wasn't about to happen. Guess this summer isn't about to get any better,' Harry thought. His mental voice was becoming increasingly negative. Harry fell back onto his bed and closed his eyes. He slid his thick glasses off and placed them on the bedside table. He figured that since nothing important was about to happen, that there was no point in staying up. He let himself drift off into dream land. The only problem was that once the morning hit; things would become turned upside down.

Dursley Residence, Outside; Morning

A sandy haired man by the name of Remus Lupin stood on the sidewalk outside the Dursleys' home. He was waiting for Severus to make his appearance. The two of them were to pick Harry up from his relative's home. The boy was unaware of this fact, but they didn't want him refusing a chance to go to Grimmauld place. It was common knowledge that Harry didn't like the place, especially since Sirius was no longer living. It was deemed necessary that he be moved there, just in case Voldemort figured out some way to get around the wards. There was the fact that he now had Harry's blood running through his veins.

There was a slight problem with this little fact. Harry was not in his relative's home. This was the reason that Severus had left. He had gone off to look for Harry. Remus had a hunch that the man would have better luck at finding the boy that Remus would. There was something strange about the boy at the end of the year and Remus couldn't exactly identify it. "What could have possessed Harry to leave the safety of the wards?" Remus muttered.

Right then two people showed up. One of them had bright pink hair and the other had many scars covering his face. These two people were Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor Moody. Tonks, as she liked to be called, spoke up. "He's a boy Remus, I'm sure he just wanted some fresh air." Remus turned and looked at the two. He hadn't expected them to show up. Of course, he quickly realized that it had taken the two quite a bit to return, and they were supposed to come back a lot quicker then that.

A growl escaped from deep within Moody's throat. It was easily audible from a couple feet away from the old Auror. "It doesn't matter if the boy wanted out of there; he was safest in the house. It's obvious he doesn't care about his own safety." The ex-Auror was quite angry about Harry being away from the house. This was nothing new to Remus. He knew that just about anything could set Moody off if it was done properly. The group stood there for several more minutes before Severus rejoined them. A scowl was firmly fixed upon his face, but his left hand was wrapped around the elbow of one Harry Potter.

Harry was struggling against Severus' hold. It was obvious that he didn't want to be touched by his Potions teacher. "I found him in the park. He sat there like some forsaken creature out in the open. Merlin forbid that he have the decency to look ashamed," Severus snapped. He wasn't happy at all by the development of everything around him. This piece of information didn't help everyone else in the group. It was quite obvious that they weren't happy at all.

"What's going on here? Why are all of you here?" Harry asked. His voice came out in a tone of anger, as he continued to struggle against Severus. He wanted the man to let him go. This was not how he had expected anything to do that day and it didn't help that he wasn't getting his way right at that moment.

"We've been told by Professor Dumbledore to bring you to Order headquarters for the rest of the summer," Remus explained. Moody gave the poor werewolf a look, but Remus ignored it. He knew that Harry deserved a proper answer. Remus took a step towards the struggling Harry, but Remus' words had caused the boy to calm down. He didn't struggle; he did tug his arm a bit.

Harry sighed in defeat. He didn't like that answer. "He's doing what he thinks is best. Fine, it doesn't matter anyways. I don't care where I am truthfully, as long as it isn't with the Dursleys." Severus dropped the boy's arm. Harry only turned from them and walked back into the Dursleys' home. He didn't acknowledge either Tonks or Moody. This was completely different from the previous year where he was willing to acknowledge them. He hadn't really given Remus' presence thought either. Harry's footsteps led him straight to his room. He began packing all his things into his trunk. He got himself ready to spend the rest of his summer at twelve Grimmauld place.

Remus stood outside the home, confused by Harry's odd behaviour. "What's wrong with Harry?" Remus asked. He knew that the boy would be hurting from Sirius' death, but he hadn't expected that exact reaction. There was something off that Remus didn't totally understand.

'It appears that the spell Dumbledore held over the boy has worn off. I guess he's smarter than I ever gave him credit for,' Severus thought as he crossed his arms. He watched with much impatience as he had to stand there waiting for Harry. He wanted out of there, but that was taking a bit. He didn't like the wait, but that was only because he had practically no patience.

It took half an hour, but Harry finally came out of the house dragging his trunk with him. "Let's just get out of here." Harry's tone was as impatient as Severus felt. This made Severus stop to think for a moment, but he instantly shook his head to get rid of those thoughts from his head.

Tonks was the first one to speak after Harry did. "Alright, let's go." She just looked around and the four adults and Harry began to walk off. Severus walked behind Harry and noticed something odd. He had to stare at the boy for several moments trying to figure out what was so wrong with the image that was before him.

'That's quite odd. His hair is no longer a rat's nest like it's always been. It appears to be calmer than usual, it's lying semi-flat. I wonder how he did that,' Severus thought to himself. He continued to watch the boy as they left the area the wards protected. They were going to apparate the boy near Grimmauld place. That was the best way at that moment, not that it helped.

A/N: HA! There we go, now it's rewritten a lot better then the original one. Well, we're getting there, now its time to go and look at other things.