The crisp fall air whirled the red and yellow leaves from the trees around the yard. Children skipped down the street dressed in the typical muggle Halloween costumes. Ghosts and Goblins. Witches and Wizards.
Inside one of the few homes not participating in the tradition of handing out candy James and Lily Potter sat comfortably in the living room of their home in Godric's hollow with their infant son Harry playing contentedly on the floor in front of the fireplace.
James was reading the Daily Prophet while Lily diligently worked on a quilt for her sons crib. She was doing it the muggle way rather than doing it with magic feeling that more love went into it that way. She put the finishing touches on the quilt just as James folded the paper and laid it aside.
"Come to mum Harry." She called out. The raven haired toddler gurgled happily, crawling to his mother she wrapped him in the quilt. "Told you doing it without magic would be better." Lily teased her husband.
Yes, Lily and James Potter were a witch and wizard. Their son was sure to be one as well. The reason they were home on Halloween night and not out Trick or Treating with their son, or spending time with the tots godparents was because they were in hiding. The darkest wizard of all time wanted them dead and they had gone through every available measure to keep themselves safe. Even that however wasn't enough.
Lily picked Harry up wrapped in the tiny quilt and snuggled him close to her.
"Lily." James stated briskly.
She looked up at him and stopped smiling the wards around their home were wavering some one was breaking through.
"Get Harry out of here! Go! I'll hold them off for as long as I can." James grabbed his wand and stood facing the front door but keeping his guard up not really knowing which direction the attack would come from. Lily bolted for the stairs Harry held tightly against her. She had barely made it to the top of the stairs when she heard a cold cruel laugh.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Lily choked back a sob her husband was dead she knew it for a fact. She had lost many of her school friends the same way. She had seen their lifeless eyes looking up at her. She bolted down the hall to the nursery placing Harry in his crib.
Lily turned to barricade the door but was too late. Lord Voldemort himself was pushing through the door wand drawn. Foolishly Lily had left her wand in the living room in a panic.
"I don't want you, silly girl. Step to the side and I will allow you to live." The man's cold voice cut through her like a knife.
"No," She shook her head tears forming in her eyes. "Take me instead, please. Leave Harry alone."
"Move or I will kill you!" Voldemort commanded.
"Please let my baby live." She pleaded.
"I grow tired of your games." Voldemort sighed with a flick of his wand and a well placed curse Lily fell to the floor her red hair splayed out around her.
Voldemort turned his wand on Harry then. "venalicium ut meus par" Voldemort smiled momentarily before a blinding flash of light rebounded off of the infant and hit him in the chest.
A moment later several of Voldemort's followers, deatheaters entered the room to find the baby holding himself up on the bars of his crib with a trickle of blood running down the side of his face from a tiny lightning bolt shaped cut on his forehead. The only thing left to find of their lord was his robes.
"We need to get the child away from here." One of the masked followers announced urgently. "There will be aurors all over this place within minutes we need to work fast."
"I'll do it Lucius I have the perfect place for him." Another spoke up.
"Very well Remus take him and go quickly." Lucius nodded picking up the child gently and wrapping him in the quilt he handed him over to the other.
Remus moved swiftly out the door and was gone.
Remus looked up at the large stone building of the orphanage he had apparated to. He looked down at the bundle in his arms at his godson. Sirius would probably never forgive him for doing this but he had to follow his heart and do what he thought was best.
"I'll come to see you as soon as you are old enough to understand Harry. I promise." Remus kissed Harry's forehead and knocked on the door to the orphanage. He kept the hood to his cloak up and pushed the baby into the arms of the women who answered the door.
"I found him in an alley. I didn't know where else to take him." He said gruffly then abruptly turned and walked away.
The women looked at his retreating back a moment before shrugging her shoulders. She had seen odder things in her time at the orphanage. "Come along then wee thing, let Hilda find you a place to sleep." She crooned moving back inside the building.
The thing about infants is they are more likely to be adopted than older children such was the case with young Harry. Not even a month had passed when a wealthy young woman entered the orphanage with her husband. As Hilda showed them around the facility and introduced them to the various children the young woman stopped seeing Harry being rocked by one of the older children at the orphanage.
"Oh Christophe look at him." She gasped. "He is such a beautiful child."
"The child was left with us only a fortnight ago Mrs. Isaacs we don't know much about him or where he comes from." Hilda smiled. The raven haired babe had won her heart and she would hate to see him go but this couple had some of the best credentials she had ever seen.
"Does he have a name?" Mrs. Isaacs questioned scooping the boy into her arms ticking him.
"We've been calling him Gabriel ma'am." Hilda smiled. "He has been a blessing. He always sleeps through the night and greets everyone with a smile."
"Christophe, this is the child I want. He is absolutely perfect." Mrs. Isaacs looked at her husband with a sparkle in her eye he hadn't seen since the mediwitch had told them they could not conceive.
"Are you positive he's the one Yvette?" Christophe asked with a grin. His wife nodded her head enthusiastically clutching Gabriel to her chest.
"Alright then let's go fill out the appropriate paper work." Christophe chuckled.
Little Vladimir Gabriel Isaacs went home with his new parents that day. Neither of them noticed the cloaked figure slipping along behind them until they reached their car.
When Gabriel was about five years old he began to do strange things. Retrieving things far to high for him to reach. Cuts and bruises would heal faster than normal. Once he even fell down the stairs and landed at the bottom as if nothing had ever happened.
His adopted parents were concerned but couldn't figure out what to do about it. Any respected physician would just laugh them out of his office. One day while playing out in the yard Vladimir looked up to see a thin graying man entering the front gate and immediately he did what any smart child would do when faced with a stranger, he ran to the house yelling for his mother.
"What ever is wrong Gabriel?" She questioned coming to the door. Upon seeing the man she pushed her son behind her legs. "Can I help you sir?" She asked.
"On the contrary, I believe I can help you." He replied. "My name is Remus Lupin, I'm the one who dropped your son off at the orphanage and I can explain the strange things he can do."
"How, Who, I'm sorry I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about and I have to ask you to leave." Yvette shook her head and began to close the door.
Gabriel had been staring at the man from behind his mothers legs the whole time and before the door could be closed he inhaled deeply and jetted out around her and out the door.
"Moony!" He gasped.
"Hey kiddo, you remember me?" Remus asked only slightly surprised wizard children were known to have keener memories than human children.
Gabriel nodded. "Where Padfoot?" He questioned.
"He's busy right now but he'll come see you soon if your mommy says that's okay." Remus looked up at Yvette imploringly.
"I can't believe he remembers someone from that long ago." She looked wide eyed at her son.
"That's part of what I came to explain to you. Could I come in?" Remus asked again.
"Gabriel seems to know you but I would feel more comfortable if you came back later perhaps for dinner?" Yvette asked.
"I would be honored ma'am. What time should I be here?" Remus grinned broadly.
"Around seven, I'm sure my husband will want to hear this from the source." Yvette still looked unsure.
"I'll be here at seven then. Bye kiddo," Remus ruffled his godsons hair before almost skipping from the yard and down the street.
"You did what?" Christophe demanded when his wife told him of the days events.
"I invited him for dinner." She answered calmly sipping her tea. "Gabriel knew him." She shrugged delicately.
"Vladimir could you come here please son?" Christophe called out.
A raven haired head poked into the sitting room cautiously.
"You haven't done anything wrong just come here please." Christophe smiled.
"You can't blame him dear, you only ever call him by his first name when he's in trouble." Yvette chuckled.
"Gabriel, who was the man who came to visit today?" Christophe asked.
"Moony!," Gabriel answered excitedly. "He used to come with Padfoot and bring me gifts."
Christophe shook his head in bewilderment but he couldn't deny he was interested to see what this man would have to tell them.
Remus showed up promptly at seven and was showed into an expansive dining room by the maid. He was joined shortly by Mr and Mrs Isaacs.
"Good evening Mr, Lupin, I'm Mr. Isaacs." Christophe introduced himself and shook Remus' hand.
"It's good to meet you sir. Where is Harry?" Remus questioned. Upon blank stares he amended. "Your son?"
"Oh, Gabriel." Yvette nodded her head. "He will be in momentarily. Was his name Harry before then?"
"Yes Ma'am, Harry James Potter." Remus smiled sadly thinking of his friends neither of them would have had to have died if they had listened to him. Voldemort hadn't wanted to kill any of them.
Gabriel came marching into the room then as if he owned the place. Remus had seen what luxury the boy lived in and he couldn't be happier everything was working according to plan. If not better than planned. Lucius would be happy to hear about this.
"So you said you could explain the weird things Gabriel does?" Christophe jumped straight to the point while the house keeper served their dinner.
"Indeed, though I don't think you'll believe me at first." Remus sighed before trying to explain. "Gabriel is a wizard."
After picking Yvette up from the floor and reviving her the Isaacs asked multiple questions and Remus showed them some of what he could do. By the end of the night they were still slightly skeptical but they had accepted the fact that there was something special about Gabriel.
"I'll be back before then. But you can expect an invitation to one of the magical schools in the area before his eleventh birthday." Remus informed them before making his leave.
"Do you think it's possible?" Yvette asked after Gabriel had been put to bed.
"I guess we will have to cross that bridge when we come to it." Christophe sighed kissing his wife's forehead.