Author's Note: I appreciate this is short but I intend for them to get longer!
Night fell. As the village of Hogsmeade slept, a secret mission was taking place. "Be quiet!" One of the black-robed men hissed, after another of them had almost tripped. "If we're heard, we're dead!" He hissed and continued. The men moved silently through the small village, the inhabitants none the wiser. The men entered a small home, the door opening silently. Two of the three men stayed outside, keeping guard. "I'll be back when the job is done." He hissed and went in to the house. The man, Peter Terrington, crept up the stairs, almost silent. The only thing that went wrong was the creak of a floorboard. Terrington cursed himself inwardly and leapt, landing almost silently, throwing himself against a wall, hiding from the person contained within the room, who was sure to now be alert. Terrington heard footsteps coming towards him. He tried to slow his breathing. He saw a shadow appear, crossing the door. Terrington moved further back into the shadows, almost completely invisible. George Shuzbeke stepped out, eyes full of sleep. "Hello?" He asked to the darkness. "Who's there?" Terrington approached from the shadows, George seeing him immediately.
"Hello, Shuzbeke." He said coldy, with a slight hint of satisfaction.
"Ah... Terrington." George replied, turning towards the man. "I thought you were dead."
"So did everyone else... You left me for dead." Terrington hissed. Another voice came from the bedroom.
"George? Everything alright?" The female voice asked warily.
"Fine, Jane... Go back to sleep." George replied warmly. He then turned back to Terrington. "Yes, we did. How did you live?" He asked, coldly.
"Adam Salantio saved me... Remember him?" Terrington hissed, smiling slyly.
"Salantio... Of course I remember him." George said quietly. "You're here on his bidding?"
"Of course..." Terrington replied. "Then I know why you're here." George sounded solemn, almost accepting. Terrington was almost tricked, until George's hand, in a blur of motion, took his wand from his robe, slashing with it. Terrington shot back, hitting off a wall. George turned from him and looked at his wife, who was now up and picking up their small child, Alan. "Jane, take him and run!" He shouted, now dodging various curses from the two guards outdoors. Jane nodded and, as George stunned the two guarding the door, ran outside. George sighed. Three down. He knew this gang, there was six. Always six. George turned, too late. Adam Salantio, accompanied by two others stepped in front of him. He had no time to say anything, as a green flash enveloped him and then nothing.
Jane Shuzbeke ran, holding her child to her chest. She looked behind her, seeing two figures behind her. She looked forwards again, seeing nothing but darkness. Suddenly, a figure came out of nowhere. "Jane! I know what's happened!" The figure whispered. Jane stopped immediately. "Terry! They killed George!" She whispered, tears streaming down her face.
"I know, I know... Listen, let me take Alan... You have to run. Please, Jane. Give me Alan and run." He said urgently.
"No!"
"Jane... Trust me." Terry said quietly.
"F-Fine... Take care of him." Jane said shakily and gave the infant Alan to Terry.
"I will. I promise." He said and took the child and ran, Jane running another direction. "I'm sorry, Jane..." He whispered to himself, the green flash already visible. Terry looked down at the child. "I'm sorry, kid. Mummy and Daddy are... Away... I'm going too." He said, voice cracking. "I'm sorry, Al... Mummy loves you. Daddy loves you. Terry loves you." Terry said and looked at a door. Terry put Alan down very carefully on the doorstep and knocked on the door. He then ran away. If the old woman who answered the door had opened it a fraction of a second earlier, she would have seen the green flash.
"Jack, look at this..." The old woman said quietly, looking down at the infant on her doorstep. Jack came to the door. "Oh, God." He muttered.
"A kid? We just got rid of our own."
"Well, we can't just leave it out here." The old woman, Vera, whispered, picking Alan up. "Look at him... Who would leave such a beautiful boy out here?" She whispered, mainly to herself.
"Vera... We can't take him in. There's no roo-"
"No room? There's plenty of room. We have a spare room."
"There's no cot." Jack replied bluntly. "Well, get Paul to drive one over." Vera replied. The people were muggles, though they were fairly near to Hogsmeade.
"He'll be asleep." Jack sighed.
"Then wake him up!" Vera said quietly, looking down at baby Alan. "What's he called?" Vera asked. Jack looked at his linen cover and smiled slightly.
"It says his name is Alan." He said and smiled. "Alan Shuzbeke."
