Chapter 1 – The Boy Who Lived
Severus approached the quaint, two-story house in Godric's Hollow with a rush of panic. The wards had gone off and he'd came as quickly as he could, apparating just beyond the apparition wards. It was surreal, looking at the house as it was now. The entire second floor had been blown out, like some muggle bomb had gone off or a reducto had been rebounded. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Severus realized it was Harry's nursery. Lily! She would have been with him.
A sinking feeling in his gut so strong it was nauseating filled him when he didn't feel the familiar pulse of the fidelus wards permitting him entry into the home. Oh no. It can't be. They can't be dead. The house was deafeningly silent. It was quite forboding, walking into the front foyer of a house that was once so filled with life – a happy baby, doting parents, laughing marauders, and himself in some dark corner pretending he was more aggravated to be there than he actually was. But there was none of that now. The entire house was dark, as if the electricity had gone out, but it was a magical home so that wasn't possible. Normal magic only stops working if its casters are dead.
Fearful for the lives of Lily and his unborn goddaughter, he broke out into a run, darting past James' body and darting up the stairs, strewn with bits of wall and parts of picture frames, and straight into Harry's nursery. The moment he walked in, he saw it. Just in the doorway was another body, one he never expected to see – Lord Voldemort. The hairless, nose-less dark lord who had made his very name a curse, who killed countless magicals and mundanes for the past decade, was dead, crumbled to the floor. His wand, 13 ½ inch yew wood with a phoenix feather core, lay discarded on the ground.
A baby started to cry, and for a moment he could hardly believe it. Harry? He looked up to the boy's crib, and the boy was standing up, clutching the rail and a red Gryffindor lion blanket with one grubby hand and reaching out to him with the other. He was covered in ashes, insulation, and dust. "Sev'us!" Tears stained the fifteen month old's reddened face and he was sniffling, about to start crying. "Up, Sev'us!" Blood ran down the boy's face and a cut had been carved on the boy's forehead. A laceration? How? Did something hit him? Maybe a reducto hex really had rebounded. But foreign runes, glowing with magic, surrounded the laceration. Genius, Lily. You really did put those ancient tomes from my associate to good use.
It wasn't until he began to approach Harry that he saw it. Lily. Tears sprang to his eyes and he fell to his knees beside her. She was collapsed, crumbled to the floor in front of Harry's crib as if she'd simply fallen over and her soul left her, without resistance at all. Surely the baby in her womb, still growing, was dead as well. I'm so sorry, Lily. I'm so sorry. I failed the both of you. All of you. He'd been this child's godfather. It had been his way of apologizing to Lily for selling them out - pledging on his very magic to do everything he could to protect Lily, Harry, and the baby. James had resisted and it wasn't until they found out the baby's gender that he finally agreed. They hadn't even thought of a name yet. They had ideas but no name. He could have never predicted that Lily would be targeted when he reported the prophecy to the Dark Lord, much less this. Anything but this. He cried even harder, clutching Lily's lifeless body close to him as he realized that he would now be responsible for naming Lily's unborn daughter.
Harry started crying, upset that his mother wasn't moving and upset that he was being ignored, no doubt. Reluctantly, he put Lily down and went to the boy, picking him up with practiced ease. If it wasn't Harry, it was Draco. "Mummy?" the child asked, pointing and looking at him with confused emerald green eyes now flecked with crimson red that hadn't been there before. He'll need to go to St. Mungos. He didn't trust himself to reply and keep composure, so he stayed silent. Drawing his wand, and ignoring Harry's murmur of "mos" in anticipation, he waved it, thought, and cried again, and said expect patronum. A doe emerged from his wand and Harry giggled a watery giggle. "Deer!" he cried. He knew the name of his mother's patronus.
Severus sent a quick message to Albus and then set Harry down beside Lily. "Accio diaperbag." He said. Harry couldn't stay here, it wasn't safe. If he couldn't protect Lily and her baby, he had to at least protect Harry. It felt surreal, numb really, packing up a bag for Harry. As if the whole thing was a bad dream and he'd wake up any second and Lily would be alive, arguing with James again over whether to give the baby a Potter girl name or an Evans flower name, or Sirius would bound in, overexcited for Harry and take him out to play on his racing broom.
Harry was sitting by his mother's body and stroking her beautiful, flowing red locks. Even in death, dressed in just a red maternity nightgown, she was beautiful. "Mummy?" Harry always loved to play with her hair. Severus packed quickly. Quidditch pajamas, Magical creatures pajamas, a formal outfit, two sensible outfits, a bag of diapers, and everything else he'd ever known Lily to pack for Harry went right in the bag.
"Harry, come here." He said, grabbing Harry's red peacoat and gold hat and gloves.
Harry hesistated before he walked over, bare feet padding on hardwood seeming loud in the surreal, forboding silence. "Go bye-bye?" He nodded. "Si-rus? Remus?"
He shook his head and helped the boy into his winter robes. "No, Molly and Arthur."
"Bye-bye Mowwy." The babe echoed as he picked him up and shouldered the boy's bottomless, weightless diaper bag and walked downstairs. He was content with all of this until the started walking downstairs. "Mummy?" He asked, confused, tears springing to his eyes and his voice shaking. Other people carried him all the time, but his mother rarely left his sight.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and dared not look in the child's emerald green eyes. Lily's eyes. "No, Harry." He swallowed again and blinked back tears. How was he supposed to explain this to a baby? "Mummy…mummy go night-night."
Harry looked at him again, still confused, but not as panic-struck as a moment ago as they walked through the front door. "Nigh-nigh?" He nodded, not deigning the boy with a reply, and apparated to The Burrow.
SCENE CHANGE
Within the hour, everyone in the main circle who wasn't an auror had gathered at The Burrow. Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Rubeus Hagrid, Remus Lupin, Augusta Longbottom. Their numbers were few after a decade at war. Almost the entire Bones family was murdered as well as Benjy Fenwick, Marlene McKinnon and her family. Frank and Alice Longbottom would be spending the rest of their lives in St. Mungos. Molly Weasley had lost her brothers Fabian and Gideon Prewett. No one in this room, gathered in the living room and kitchen area around Minerva, was a stranger to loss and war. It was bittersweet, because at least Harry was alive, clutched tightly in Minerva's arms on the ratty old couch, clinging to her and looking around, quiet and uncertain. The foreign runes on his forehead had faded. His diaper bag sat, mostly forgotten, between her and Molly, who was nursing two and a half month old Ginerva at her breast. The other children were all upstairs, sound asleep and blissfully unaware of the happenings downstairs. Owls had been sent off alerting friends, family, and acquaintances all over.
Hagrid was at the table drinking, crying and getting pissed. He'd been like that since he came with Albus earlier. Augusta Longbottom was sat a respectable distance away, barely presentable, watching impatiently. She had to leave her newly orphaned grandson for this, something she could read just as well in a letter. There was not a dry eye in the room.
Remus hasn't spoken since he got here, and he hasn't taken his eyes off either Harry or Dumbledore the whole time. He knew everyone thought he was the spy, until an hour ago. "Albus, has there been any word on Sirius and Peter?" They were both inexplicably missing.
"I'm afraid not." Albus replied. Both of their letters came back without a reply and undelivered, respectively. "All the aurors are out looking for them right this very moment." Twinkling eyes fell on Harry. "At last, the war is over, even if just for now."
The very idea was still so surreal. Like a dream. Even Albus couldn't explain it. The whole second floor looked like a powerful bombarda or reducto rebounded, yet both Tom and the Potters appeared to have died peacefully by way of the killing curse, and little Harry survived with just a cut on his forehead.
Augusta eyed Albus with a critical eye. "How can you say such a thing? Are you absolutely sure that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named survived?" Albus nodded but she didn't let him reply, speaking over whatever it was he was starting to say. "Snape found the body, Albus! My son and his wife's murderers are in jail and their leader is dead." She was understandably exasperated. "If you've any proof, say it now! If all this is, is another death notification, then I'm going home to my grandson."
"Now, Augusta, I know you're upset. You have every right to be." Albus gave her a placating look. "The most obvious sign is the DADA position. It is still cursed - I had the elves check on it as soon as I got the news. Furthermore, the dark marks of the followers have not faded. And finally, we have known for quite some time that Tom has been boasting about finding immortality. I can assure you, this is not just a scare tactic – Tom has been interested in immortality since his school days." A warning, cautionary look was sent around the room. "Tom is not dead. He is merely resting, waiting and biding his time until his followers find him. That is why we must turn our focus, for now, to catching and imprisoning Tom's followers." A soft, twinkling, gaze that was almost grandfatherly turned to Harry. "Harry is the child of prophecy – we must do everything we can to protect him."
Minerva turned her eyes away from the child, now half-asleep laying on her chest, arms wrapped around her neck, head nestled on her shoulder. "Are you sure that the prophecy hasn't already been fulfilled? You-Know-Who is disembodied, is he not? Hasn't Harry already done his part?"
Albus frowned. "That I do not know, my dear. I can't tell you what happened that night, but whatever it was, whatever Harry did, he is a very special child. I am certain that he will be very important when he grows up."
Silence filled the room, save the occasional sniffle or watery hiccup, and the suckling noises of baby Ginerva. "Albus…" Molly said, tentatively, still looking at Ginny, still crying. "If they can't find Sirius…I would like to raise Harry." Her voice was a barely discernable whisper, as if she was afraid to wake Harry beside her. "He can play with Ron and the boys and Ginny. He'll be loved here. Me and Arthur, we'll raise him as our own."
Albus shook his head in the negative. "I'm sorry, Molly. Harry needs to be as safe as he can be. Every single one of Tom's death eaters will be looking for him." Albus held up a hand, silencing her before she could speak up. "I have an idea. But first, I need to return to Hogwarts and verify a few things. I also need to check on the status of the aurors' search." He drew his wand. "This house is sufficient for now, being unplottable, but Tom has gotten around unplottable before." They would not have had to resort to the fidelus charm otherwise. "Keep Harry safe while I'm gone. Severus was thoughtful enough to bring Harry's things for him, everything he needs should be in there. I will return by nightfall. Severus, if you would accompany me?" Severus walked over and put a hand on his headmaster's shoulder, and with a pop, he was gone.
SCENE CHANGE
They appeared in Albus' office. It was the only room on Hogwarts Grounds you could apparate into and only the headmaster could apparate and disapparate to and from it, and only willingly. Ancient magic from the founders time.
Albus did not waste any time and began searching through the bookshelves against the wall, looking for a particular book. "Severus, tell me…what happened?" Aside from the obvious, of course.
"I failed her. I made a vow on my magic, I did everything I could, and I still failed her." Severus refused to look at Albus. He was a broken man. "I would have sooner let the Dark Lord kill me than let it come to this, if I had known." He and James had even made a truce, granted it was at wandpoint courtesy of Lily, for the sake of Harry and their unborn daughter.
Albus put up a hand, placating. "I know, Severus. I have never doubted your loyalty to Lily." He pulled books from shelves, glancing at them and flipping through a few pages before putting them back on the bookshelf. "You were the first one to get there. Is there anything you can tell me?"
Severus was silent for a moment. "Lily was always a genius, Albus." Indeed, she was always working on one project or another, endlessly fascinated by magic and curious to push its perceived limits. "I don't know what she did, but the cut on his forehead isn't just from flying rubble. Foreign runes written in magic were written around his scar when I found him, but they faded by the time we arrived at The Burrow." Albus made a contemplative humming noise. "I had an associate of mine gather up any ancient tomes they could find that might be useful to protect the house and the children. Whatever she found in them she must have used, because in all my years reading about the Dark Arts and serving the Dark Lord I have never seen magic like that."
"I will have to tell the aurors to bring me all the books from the house that are still intact, then. Maybe we can figure out what it is she may have done to protect Harry." A few more minutes, and a few more books later, Albus finally found it. "Ah-ha! Here it is." He pulled a book on warding off the highest shelf, covered in dust it had sat unread for so long. Severus gave him a questioning look. "This, my boy, is a very obscure book about warding. It has a blood ward in it that I would like to use for Harry, after I get the Ministry's approval."
This perplexed Severus. Only wards in a muggle neighborhood required Ministry approval. That's when it hit him. "Albus, you can't be serious! Petunia hates the entire magical world, and Harry will not be an exception just because he is her nephew." If looks could kill, Albus would be dying. "Don't underestimate hatred, Albus."
Albus looked up from his reading, his expression grave, sorrowful. "Then I will tell you not to underestimate the power of grief." Severus paused. "When I lost my little sister Ariana, I couldn't forgive myself. For years I resented her, having to take care of her because she was helpless and there was no one else. My little brother Aberforth was still in school, after all. I could have been out exploring the world, learning new things, and making my mark on the world, but she held me back." He sighed, and for the first time, Severus thought he looked world-weary.
"My own selfishness and greed cost my sister her life, Severus. I would give anything to go back to our childhood home and have the burden of taking care of her all over again. Her death changed my perspective of her completely. I am confident that Petunia Dursley will see a new perspective, as well. She will love Harry and raise him as her own." Severus was silent. He wasn't sure which to believe, Albus' grief or his hatred of his father.
TIME AND SCENE CHANGE
Night had fallen again on The Burrow, and Molly had just gotten fussy Harry to sleep with Ron and was coming down the stairs when Albus popped back in, without Severus or Minerva. "Any news, Albus?" she said, rushing over. Her husband stood from his favorite armchair and rushed over to her side. Augusta was long gone and so was everyone else. Only Remus had remained.
Albus motioned to the kitchen table. "Please, sit down everyone. There are a few things that I need to tell you all." Wary and cautious, everyone made their way to the table and sat down with Albus. "First, the good news. I have a plan to protect Harry until all of the death eaters are imprisoned. It is not ideal, but it is the best course of action open to us right now." He paused, looking each of them in the eye. "I am going to give Harry to the Dursleys. His mother had a sister, a muggle named Petunia Evans. She is married now and has a husband and young son Harry's age. I have received permission from the Ministry's Child Welfare Department and had the paperwork written up already to set up blood wards around Harry's house. They will be set up to prevent all magical creatures and humans with a dark mark from coming on the family's property. I will have Hagrid fly Harry there himself, to allow me time to apparate there and set up the wards." He looked around the table again. "Is that clear? Any questions?"
Arthur looked confused. "Fly? Do you want him to take my flying car? Albus, I think he's too big to drive it."
Albus chuckled. "No, Arthur. Aurors recovered Sirius' motorbike and I am temporarily lending it to Hagrid. When all of this is resolved, it will go in the Black family vault." Only Albus, the Former Savior of the Wizarding World and Defeater of Lord Grindewald, could convince the Ministry aurors to temporarily lend him their evidence before the case was resolved in court.
"Now, for the bad news." Albus face fell and his expression was once again sorrowful and world-weary. For a moment he looked every bit the 100 year old wizard that he was. "I am sorry to report that the aurors have found Sirius and Peter. It appears that Sirius was the spy in our midst. According to half a dozen witnesses, Sirius cornered Peter and killed him and a dozen muggles with a single spell. Sirius was arrested not far from the scene and is currently sitting in a cell in the Ministry dungeons awaiting a trial by the full Wizengamot. As for Peter…all they could find of him to keep for burial was his right index finger."
Silence. Deafening, foreboding silence. They are all surprised. They thought that because of how his family reacted to his Gryffindor sorting, kicking him out but not disowning him, that he would be loyal to them to the end. The Potters had taken him in, even. He had been the most vocally against Lupin, labelling him as the spy. He was the one they least suspected. And now, this?
"Are you sure, Albus?" Molly asked. Her tone was just exhausted, emotionally depleted. "There's no mistaking any of this? Sirius was definitely their secret keeper? Is there any chance that all of this is just a mistake?" No one wanted to believe they were betrayed by one of their own, by one of the inner circle. Albus shook his head, and Molly started shaking and began cursing aloud at Sirius, calling him every foul name she could think of. "Those Blacks are all the same! Dark wizards, they all are. I hope he rots in Azkaban for this!" Arthur pulled his wife to him, putting an arm around her and trying to console her. "He had us all fooled. What did we miss, Albus?" Molly was crying and yelling now, gesticulating wildly. Arthur got up and led her away from the table and back to their room, talking quietly to her the whole walk back.
Albus let them go and turned his attention to Remus Lupin. Remus was dumbstruck, still, and crying silently. "Remus, I owe you an apology. We all owe you an apology." Remus turned cautious green eyes to Albus. He still wasn't over everyone labelling him as the spy. "Out of all of us, you and Harry are suffering the most, but at least he will not remember this." He had lost everyone he was closest to in a single night, all save their son. His two childhood friends, his childhood friend's wife, and his ex-boyfriend. "You are not alone, Remus. You are welcome here. No one thinks ill of you anymore, and if anyone says anything then they will have to answer to me. I will not tolerate divisive comments in our temporary moment of peace."
Remus nodded stiffly. "Thank you, Albus. I appreciate it, I really do." He looked at him, trying to reassure him of his sincerity. "You are the only person who's said anything so far. I just...I just need to be alone for a while." Remus stood and walked to the fireplace, taking a handful of floo powder. "If you or Harry need anything, just fire call me or send a patronus." Albus nodded, watching sadly as Remus called out the name of his house and disappeared in a roar of green flames.
Minutes later, Albus was cradling Harry in his arms outside. The toddler was clutching at his robes, nervously, and although his eyes were droopy with exhaustion he was too nervous to lay his head down. He was looking all around the vast field and forest that surrounded The Burrow.
Molly and Arthur were still in their rooms, Ginerva was nursing again, and the rest of the children were all asleep. The boy was still wrapped in his red Gryffindor blanket, covered with golden lions charmed to roar silently and make various animations. One was cleaning its paw, another was roaring at another lion that was growling, and two more were racing each other across the blanket's red surface. "Lily was always best at charms." Molly had dressed him in his quidditch pajamas tonight. The quaffle and bludger were stationary, but a golden snitch flitted around the surface of the long sleeve, baby blue shirt.
An engine sounded in the distance, in the air, and when Harry heard it his face lit up. "Si-rus!" the boy was too tired to wriggle around and try to get free, but he did wrestle an arm free from the blanket's confines to point up at the flying motorbike descending down upon the driveway. Albus gave the boy a sad smile. In the darkness, the toddler couldn't tell who it was. He would be disappointed.
Hagrid walked up to Albus, his face still swollen and red from crying all day. At least, it appeared he'd taken a sober up potion. "Harry!" the half-giant beamed at Harry, giving the boy the best, most enthusiastic smile he could muster. Hagrid was a stranger, but this didn't bother Harry. "Hi."
Hagrid reached out and took Harry, getting him settled into the wrap carrier that Albus handed him a moment later. "This is Molly's, Hagrid, so take good care of it." Hagrid nodded hurriedly. Molly could be quite intimidating when angered. Albus walked them over to the motorbike. He tapped a circular monitor on the motorbike and said, "Point me, Number 4 Privet Drive, Surrey, England." The monitor lit up and a green arrow appeared. "There, that will show you to way. When you get close, it will turn red. I will be waiting there. Look for me where the street lamps have all gone dark." Albus instructed, holding up his deluminator and gesturing with it.
Hagrid nodded. "Yessir. I'll get him there safe and sound for yeh."
Albus smiled. "I can always count on you, Hagrid. Remember, fly high and stay above the cloud cover. No one can see you. Now, off you go." He waved at Harry. "Bye, Harry." It might be another year or two before he saw the child, maybe even ten.
Author's Note: Sorry this is pretty rough. I don't really like how it came out, I feel like I could have described it better and made the interaction go more smoothly. This chapter is Albus' side of things, next chapter will be Harry with the Dursley's. This fic is not going to be categorized as a crossover because there will be no appearances of characters from other fanfics, but it will have elements of many other stories in it. For sure, it will have Naruto elements (don't worry, Harry's not gonna be a ninja. That's been done before) and Game of Thrones elements. Because I feel like, being such a GoT fan, putting purebloods in a Game of Thrones type of society makes sense. Like with the clothes and values and such. And cause dragons were so pathetic in canon. Honestly I haven't planned out a lot haha. If this actually becomes a full blown crossover, can I change the category to reflect that?
ANYWAYS PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. This will be a dark, Slytherin, grey possessed harry fanfic for sure. My goal is to not make either side completely black and white, good vs evil, etc. Cause in my head, it's a lot more complex than that. Let me know what you want to see, and I might add it into the fic. Lots of planning going on.