Twilight Dreams
By: ToriChan
A/N: I don't know anyone's age, since I am too lazy to look, but if anyone wants to send me the info, I will be eternally grateful.
Prologue
Sixteen year old Lily Evans grabbed onto the just turned seventeen year old James Potter's hand. They were sitting in a room with a fire going. She had a happy look on her face. The new couple were visiting each other for the summer.
"I want to go somewhere. I can't tell you though until we get there," James' eyebrow quirked, "Come on, if you've ever wanted to take me on a date, it would be here!"
He sighed and nodded his head, "With a face like that who would say no?"
They grabbed their things and got in the muggle car that they used to 'blend' into the muggle world. Lily was giving directions while her boyfriend was driving. When she said that they had arrived, he looked at a huge tent. The banner above the opening of the tent read: "Twilight Dreams Circus."
"I am so glad that it is here now. The mere thought that I would have to endure another year in school and then hunting them down doesn't please me at all. Last year was bad enough when I got lost and ended up somewhere in Tibet," Lilly sighed as she closed her eyes in remembrance.
"Lils, why are we at a muggle place? What is so great about it? What is it for that matter?" a black eyebrow rose, "You got lost in Tibet?" James asked with a look of curiosity, as they sat in the car for a little bit.
Lily's old shyness returned as she lowered her head, "I was looking for this Circus. It is the only one that is made up of entirely females. I haven't missed a show yet. It is a place where muggles perform stunts, like crossing a rope over the ground high up in the air and they train animals to do tricks and there are these people called clowns who are just there to make you laugh. My mom love seeing all the wonderful things and before my father passed he would always take her,"
"Why not go to any other? What is so great about this one?" the stag Marauder was confused at how his girlfriend suddenly seemed sad.
"Because, when I was growing up, before I knew about the world I know now, my mother would always take me to this circus. Even when I entered school and she got sick with cancer, all she did was be sure that every year I went to see this show. And when I went to the hospital to visit her on her last day, she held on to my hand with a tight grip and looked me in the eyes and said: 'I want you to go to the circus every chance you get. Let it be your moment of happiness when dark times come, and always remember that no matter what happens it will continue to go on,'" Tears sprouted in the woman's eyes, "Then…I felt her grip go slack and I heard the muggle heart reader making the continuous sound when someone's heart stops. Ever since that day, I promised myself, even if the Dark Lord himself showed up, I would enjoy a day at the circus every chance I got, just like my mother wanted. This is like a second home to me, and will always light my way into a brighter future. Dark Lord be damned, I will always go," her lips twitched at the mental image of her poking fun at Voldemort.
James smiled kindly at the redhead next to him. She was trying so hard to keep the promise to her mother in the only way she could. He wrapped his arms around her and smiled a warm smile.
"When we have children, let's take them to see the circus too. Then they too can have happy memories with their parents as well. And the Dark Lord will just have to deal with it. It will be a tradition passed down generation to generation, and the bond of love will be strong,"
Lily's face cracked into a full out broad cheerful grin, "Do my ears deceive me? Did you just say something nice and sensitive to me? Why James, I didn't know you had it in you,"
They got out of the car and chatted cheerfully as they got in line with the rest of the people. Their smiling faces seemed to spread throughout the crowd. Nothing could ruin their lovely night…
Unbeknownst to the two lovers, a pair of red eyes was watching them closely from inside the tent…
Twenty-five years later….
Harry Potter jerked awake from his dream in his bed, back to being under the stairs in the cupboard. It was such a vivid dream, another one of Voldemort watching his parents. It was as if the Dark Lord was showing him what his parents were like while they were growing up. But what he wanted to know was: why the Dark Lord was watching them so intently?
Getting dressed, he went to start breakfast when he heard a loud crash from the living room. Running in there even though his wand was with his Uncle Vernon, he saw a row of at least fifteen Death Eaters, right in the front being none other than the Dark Lord himself. His family was tied up in the corner, by the looks of it unharmed.
"Harry…so nice of you to join us. I daresay you are most definitely not prepared. Now what shall we do to remedy that?" He cocked his head to the side in mock curiosity, "I seem to have tied up your relatives, whatever will you do?"
The young boy smirked in a very Slytherin-like manner.
"Do what you want to them, consider them a gift. I've had enough of being controlled by the old fool-" A Death Eater cut him off.
"And you think we are going to believe that you suddenly want nothing more than to go dark?" the voice was seasoned…must have been Lucius.
The look on the boy's face made most everyone in the room shiver. This was no look of joy, this was one of pure rage and darkness.
"You don't believe me? Fine, take a good look everyone, this is a one time deal," And everyone felt as Harry tore down all of the defenses that no one realized he had put up around his mind, and thrust absolutely everything at them. He forced them all to see it all.
Anyone with any form of Legilimency to be able to receive the images forced upon them could see what had happened to the boy. He was quite literally thrown on the front step with a hastily written note to the muggles, abused for absolutely anything that the Dursleys deemed wrong, harassed in school, accused, beaten, scorned, then told by Dumbledore that he had known that putting him with the Dursleys would cause many difficult things for him. The bastard knew he was putting the boy in that situation and then decided to mold him into a weapon and be the boy's personal savior. The shear amount of what the people did to him shocked all who were present.
No one realized that he had a barely noticeable barrier protecting one memory nobody would find out about.
He raised his eyes and met those of the Dark Lord. His hand came out in a gesture of a handshake.
"Let's say we end this petty squabble. Turn over a new leaf and get due revenge,"
Voldemort accepted the hand, only to feel a violent shock go through his arm. When he looked down, he saw markings peeking through the boy's oversized shirt that trailed down his hand. Looking up into the eyes he saw a fire there that wasn't there before.
Then words began to come out of the boy's mouth. The words were in a language that he didn't know, and that was saying a lot since he knew over fifty.
Soon the very air around them began to swirl outward. Sparks came off of The-Boy-Who-Lived. He looked like he was in pain, but continued to chant. Meanwhile, Voldemort wondered why his follower were not trying to help him, but then he saw the wind attacking them if they got too close, and all spells just disappear after being casted in the direction of the two wizards.
Suddenly the chanting slowed and the pain both men felt increased ten-fold. He saw smoke come off his hand and smelled the nauseating smell of burnt flesh.
Then, just like that, the boy dropped to his knees and let a tired smirk appear on his face. Voldemort looked at his hand and saw two snakes intertwined on it.
"What is this?"
"Like it? You have just been marked by me as your equal, we are bound in time. Oh, and don't bother thinking about consulting any Dark Arts books about this, it isn't in there,"
What would be considered an eyebrow on the snake-like man's face raised, "Then where would I look?"
Harry snorted, "You know nothing of magic do you?" he ignored all the shocked whispers around him, "You may know about light and dark magic, but did you ever consider to research the other three Magicks existing? I have studied and mastered all of them," he pulled the collar of his shirt down to show a pentacle connecting to each point above his heart, "I have mastered the Black, White, Dark, Light, and Grey Magicks. Also, just-"
A white light surrounded him and all the other occupants in the room heard him scream in pain. Then, they saw that the light was tearing at his skin, then muscles, then bone. It was disintegrating the child into nothing. As abruptly as it began, it stopped. Nothing was left in that spot to show that Harry Potter was just standing there.
The Dark Lord called a retreat and they left with the Dursleys in tow. No one dared question the Lord about what had happened.
All was silent in Albus's office. Fawkes opened one eye to see a light appear and drop an unconscious Boy-Who-Lived on the floor. The phoenix spread it's wings and went directly to Dumbledore in the room next to the office.
The headmaster rushed out and checked the boy over. He then levitated Harry to the hospital wing and got Madam Pomfrey. She looked absolutely horrified when she finished examining the child.
"Albus, this boy is in a coma,"
Twenty-Five Years Earlier….
Harry woke up feeling groggy and rubbed his aching head. He got on his knees and saw that he was inside a tent of some sort. Looking around he saw animals, makeup stands and all other things that would be needed at a performance-not that he would know first hand-.
A female shriek was heard behind him and he jumped to see a fair lady, her skin a little dark, but not too much. She looked like an exotic princess from a fairy tale. And she was looking at Harry like he was a plague.
When another woman stepped out in a ringleader outfit, he knew where he was. At a circus of some sort. The woman walked up to him and looked him over.
"Who are you?" her voice had a faint accent to it which he could not place.
"H-Harry Potter,"
"How did you get back here? Only the workers are allowed," now she was studying his clothes-that were about ready to fall off him-and the bruises barely visible underneath. Her eyes softened slightly.
"I woke up here. I don't know how I got here. I was in my house talking to the Dark L- to my family then I blacked out,"
The woman looked curious as to the way he changed the name. Then she smiled. This boy would not have been able to get in there if not for the fact that he had nowhere else to go. He was a lost child like all other people who end up in the tent. There was also potential lurking beneath the surface of the child-Harry Potter's-appearance.
"My name is Arria Fadilla. You are in the circus called Twilight Dreams. This is a place where people end up when they have nowhere else to go. It can be considered a blessing or a curse, but know this: you have nowhere else to go. That is the rule of the spell."
Harry puzzled, he knew that the Dursleys were most likely taken by Voldemort, but he could stay with the Weasleys or Hermione. He did have other places to go. Why not there?
"I see that you are troubled. Don't worry, no one is going to hurt you. This place is a sanctuary to the lost. But if a person does come that you can be with, then you can go if you want. All I am saying is that we can offer shelter until that person comes," she let the words sink in.
That was logic. Stay here and get taken care of or go out on the streets and have nowhere to go without a wand or a broom.
"There is one condition though, you have to work here. Nothing more, nothing less. I must warn you that it will be hard at first. Do you wish to stay?" a nod was the only reply.
Somehow he had a feeling this was just the beginning…
A/N: I suddenly got this idea from I don't know where and here it is now. So what do you think? By the way most all the circus names have hidden meanings except the ringleader. There was no meaning for her name. Anyhow, review quick and I'll be eternally grateful.