Chapter One: Never be the Same
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and it remains the property of J.K. Rowling. The plot and additional characters belong to me.
A/N: Hey guys! I know, another fanfiction already, but this was one I initially started years ago and had to abandon because I lost everything I had planned for it. I remembered most of the plot though so I'm going to give it another bash.
Hope you all enjoy and, please leave me a review!
oOoOo
Wednesday 19th September 1979
Screams echoed throughout a cemetery as a woman leaned against a wall, hidden behind a large willow tree. The woman was heavily pregnant, and she pointed her wand at her stomach, hissing a spell to numb herself. She pushed her eccentric curls away from her clammy face and took a knife from her robes. Unable to feel anything, the woman made an incision in her lower abdomen and heaved her baby out.
She wrapped the baby in a blanket, before using a spell to remove her afterbirth and she closed the incision. Breathing deeply, she hugged the baby to her breast. 'I am so sorry, my love,' the woman whispered.
The woman stayed there for two days, recuperating her strength, and during the night on the second day she stood and staggered from the cemetery with the baby secure in her arms. She was exhausted and famished, but her baby was her primary concern.
'Bella!' came a voice from behind her, and she turned to find Rabastan running towards her. 'Where were you? I thought the worst,' he said, wrapping his arms around her. The bundle between them caught Rabastan's attention, and he looked down into the baby's face, his expression softening.
'Your daughter,' Bellatrix confirmed, tightening her hold on the bundle.
'Rodolphus will kill us. Why didn't you just tell him you were pregnant?' Rabastan asked her, touching his daughter's forehead gently.
Bellatrix shook her head. 'Rodolphus can never know. I am not having that man raise my daughter the way he raised Vincent. I don't want her to have this life, Rabastan,' she told him firmly, tears coming to her eyes as she looked down at her baby.
Rabastan slumped his shoulders and closed his eyes. His first child, and probably only child, was going to be torn away from him. 'What do you plan to do with her?' Rabastan asked, trying to stay calm. He knew whatever Bellatrix was planning; it would be the best for all of them.
'I'm taking her away from the Wizarding World. She will be safer never having to grow up around magic. When the time comes, she will learn of our world through Hogwarts. One day, she might find us…' Bellatrix trailed off as tears spilt from her eyes, and Rabastan pulled her into his arms.
'Let me come with you,' Rabastan beseeched, but he knew she would refuse.
'No, I can't allow you to become attached to her. This is for the best,' Bellatrix refuted and walked away from him. Every step she took away from him caused another tear to fall from her eyes. Rabastan stared at her as she left, tears welling in his eyes.
Shortly after her encounter with Rabastan, Bellatrix found a Muggle hospital, and she crept inside. She disillusioned herself and made her way to the maternity ward. Noise from the high dependency ward caught her attention, and Bellatrix moved into the room to find another baby girl quaking and shuddering in the incubator. Foam was coming from her mouth, and the beeping machine became still as the girl did.
Bellatrix frowned when she grasped what happened, and closed her eyes. She raised her wand and quieted the machine before it could alarm the staff. Bellatrix took a deep breath, made her decision, and opened the incubator. She removed the tubes from the baby girl and took her out. Bellatrix lay her gently on a changing table and turned to her daughter.
Bellatrix's eyes burned with tears as she took in her daughter sleeping serenely, unaware she was about to be torn from her real mother. With trembling hands, Bellatrix put her into the incubator and performed a spell on her which showed she was healthy. Bellatrix closed the incubator. 'Sleep well, my Esmerelda,' she breathed, tears falling from her eyes. Bellatrix turned to the dead baby on the table, wrapped her in a blanket from the shelf, and picked her up, before leaving the hospital unnoticed.
Bellatrix made her way back to the cemetery, where she spent the early morning ploughing a hole and buried the child behind the willow tree where she gave birth. She found a large stone and levitated it over to the grave. Raising her wand, she used a spell to write an inscription on the stone: "Thank you for giving my daughter a chance at a normal life".
Bellatrix gazed at the grave for a while, before turning and making her way out of the cemetery. She spun on her heel and Disapparated home.
oOoOo
Thursday 13th November 1980
A lone figure stood on a windy hilltop, wringing his gloved hands anxiously, and turned when another figure walked up to join him. He pulled down his hood and held up his hands defensively. 'Don't kill me!' he whimpered, his voice tense with fear.
The figure raised his wand. 'Why shouldn't I?' he questioned, observing the terrified man in revulsion.
'Please, I have information you want to hear,' the man responded, taking a step back.
'Oh? Speak quickly, Severus,' the man answered, lowering his hood. The man was old with long silver hair and a long beard to match.
Severus Snape nodded, dropping his hands. 'I overheard a Prophecy,' he enlightened and proceeded to tell the elderly man the contents of what he heard. 'I told him…' Snape trailed off, shaking his head. 'I told the Dark Lord before I knew it linked him to the Potter's. I found out afterwards that Voldemort planned to go after them. I asked him to spare Lily…' he trailed off, and the man scowled at him.
'Spare Lily, but not her son or James,' the man snarled, shaking his head. 'You are despicable.'
'I panicked!' Snape shouted in defence of his actions. He was disturbed by what he had done and didn't need anyone to point out his error. 'Please, hide them all, Dumbledore,' Snape begged, falling to his knees as the weight of his blunder overcame him. 'Keep her… keep them safe,' he solicited, looking up at Dumbledore. 'I'll do anything you want, in return for their safety,' Snape alleged, and Dumbledore's eyebrows rose at this.
Dumbledore smirked and agreed to Severus' promise. He warned of the dire consequences he would endure if his oath were not kept. Thus, Severus Snape became a double agent for Dumbledore.
oOoOo
Saturday 31st October 1981
Severus Snape cursed Albus Dumbledore.
The man was an utter fool. How could he sit and wait for Voldemort to attack the Potter's? The old man swore to keep them safe, but decided to wait? All because he didn't know Voldemort's plans even though Snape told him everything he heard from his Master.
The stupid fool.
Snape stopped running when he came upon the Potter home, flames lighting up the darkness. He noticed Hagrid run out of the house, carrying something in his arms and he assumed this was the Potter's son. Sirius Black was running towards the house towards him. Snape shook his head, not waiting for them.
He needed to get to Lily.
Snape ran to the back of the house and kicked open the door, ducking into the house. He was in the kitchen, but there was no sign of Lily in there. Snape made his way through the house, avoiding the fire, and came across the body of James Potter lying at the bottom of the stairs.
Shouting from outside reminded him that Sirius and Hagrid were still outside, and then the sound of a motorbike roared throughout the street. Snape looked out the front entrance, noticing Sirius was still on the path, watching Hagrid fly away on the bike.
Snape turned and ran up the stairs, looking in the rooms, and heard a noise from the room at the end. With a heavy heart, Snape made his way to the room and realised this was the nursery. He looked down, and his heart lodged in his throat when he saw Lily's unmoving body.
Snape fell to his knees, and pulled her to him, cradling her lifeless body as tears streamed from his eyes. He kissed her head and reached up to close her eyes. A crack in the hallway made him look up as the ceiling collapsed, and he quickly got up.
Snape was too late…
Snape ran a shaking hand through his greasy, black hair, and turned to leave, but a sound from the crib made him stop dead. A baby was crying. Snape turned towards the cradle slowly; he saw Hagrid carrying a baby…
Snape walked to the crib and looked down to find a baby crying and thrashing about. He picked the boy up, and looked at the silver bracelet on his wrist, hoping for some indication of his name, but there was only his birth date.
Snape turned, intending to leave with the boy, and a hanging picture on the wall caught his attention. It was a picture of James and Lily, holding two boys. Snape's eyes widened, he hadn't realised the Potter's had twins. Dumbledore only mentioned one boy, and Snape wondered if Dumbledore knew there were two.
Snape shook his head, deciding to ponder this new information later. He looked at the boy and then turned to the door. He frowned at the handmade sign on the door, remembering Lily loved to draw and knew she would have made it for her boy's. It read: "Harry and Caleb's Room".
'Caleb, huh?' Snape muttered in awe, looking at the boy with a frown. The boy coughed, and Snape knew he had to get him out of there. Snape looked down at Lily one more time, before Disapparating just as Sirius ran through the door shouting her name.
oOoOo
Albus Dumbledore appeared on a quiet street named "Privet Drive", and rummaged in his cloak for something as a tabby cat narrowed its eyes at him. He realised he was being watched and looked up at the cat, smirking in amusement. 'I should have known,' Dumbledore muttered to himself, shaking his head.
Dumbledore went back to searching his pockets and found what he was looking for. It was a large lighter, and he flicked it open. He held it in the air and clicked it, making all the lights in the street go out, one by one. Dumbledore put the lighter back into his pocket and ambled along the pavement, taking a seat next to the tabby cat in front of a house with the number "4" screwed into the door.
'And what brings you here, my dear Professor McGonagall?' Dumbledore asked, looking down at the cat curiously.
However, the cat was gone, and in its place, was a woman with square-spectacles, and a stern face. She pursed her lips and glanced at him. 'How did you know it was me?' McGonagall asked, but she knew Dumbledore wasn't stupid. Dumbledore didn't answer, he didn't need to, but he did chuckle at the glare McGonagall shot him. 'Are the rumours true, Albus?' she asked suddenly, and Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. 'Is You-Know-Who gone?' McGonagall added, looking at him hopefully.
'It would certainly seem so,' Dumbledore answered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two sherbet lemons. He offered one to McGonagall, but she declined, and he busied himself with opening one of them.
'Is it true he attacked the Potter's? That James and Lily are…' McGonagall trailed off, unable to complete her sentence. One glance at Dumbledore's bowed head confirmed they were dead, and she gasped. 'Oh, poor James and Lily,' she whispered, pulling out a handkerchief and dabbing her eyes with it. McGonagall sniffed and looked up at him. 'And what about Harry? I heard You-Know-Who was unable to kill him as well,' she said, and Dumbledore nodded.
'There were two, Minerva. James and Lily had twins,' Dumbledore revealed to her, and her eyes widened.
'They kept that quiet,' McGonagall said, shaking her head. 'Then, what happened to them?' she asked, dreading the answer.
'We know what was spoken of in the Prophecy, but it could have meant either of them,' Dumbledore mused, shaking his head. He took out his watch and examined it, before placing it back in his pocket. 'Hagrid's late,' Dumbledore muttered and looked down the road.
'You trusted Hagrid with something as important as this?' McGonagall asked him in shock.
'I trust him. He's bringing Harry and Caleb here, where they can live with their Aunt and Uncle,' Dumbledore clarified, giving her a sideways glance.
'You can't mean here! These people are horrible, Albus! They will never understand them,' McGonagall said, looking at him in disbelief.
'It's the safest place for them,' Dumbledore answered sternly, giving her a severe look over his half-moon spectacles.
McGonagall's shoulders slumped, and she was about to argue, but a loud roar broke the silence. They both looked up to see a motorbike flying through the air, and it landed in front of them, coming to a screeching stop. Dumbledore stood, letting out a breath of relief as Hagrid got off the motorbike carefully.
'Hagrid, at last,' Dumbledore said, moving towards him. 'Where did you get that motorbike?' he asked, gesturing to the vehicle.
'Borrowed it off Sirius Black,' Hagrid answered, moving forward with a bundle of blankets in his arms. 'I got Harry, sir. Caleb was…' he trailed off, shaking his head.
Dumbledore frowned sadly and nodded slowly. McGonagall gasped as she realised what Hagrid was trying to say, and dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief again. Dumbledore took Harry from him and looked down at the sleeping boy. A jagged scar was bleeding on his forehead; it was shaped like a lightning bolt. Hagrid let out a sob and blew his nose into a spotted handkerchief as McGonagall shushed him.
Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door of number 4. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter from inside his cloak, and tucked it inside Harry's blankets. Dumbledore moved away and went back to stand with the other two. For a moment they stared at the bundle, but eventually, Dumbledore patted their arms, and they all made to leave. Hagrid said his goodbyes, tears still streaming from his eyes, as he got on the motorbike and flew away. McGonagall sniffed and blew her nose before turning back into a tabby cat and trotting down the road and around a corner.
Dumbledore sighed and pulled the lighter from his pocket. With a click, the lights appeared in the lamps again. He took another look at the bundle. 'Good luck, Harry,' Dumbledore whispered and walked away down the road.
oOoOo
'Daddy!' cried a little girl as Snape opened the door to his home.
'Hello, princess,' Snape said, leaning down and giving his daughter a one-armed hug. He pulled back and held the bundle out for her to see. 'This is Caleb, Autumn. He's going to be living with us for a while,' Snape told her, and her eyes lit up.
'I've always wanted a brother!' Autumn cried in delight, kissing Caleb on the head.
Snape smiled and ushered her into the living room. He put Caleb on the couch, making sure he wouldn't roll off, before checking the cupboard for one of Autumn's seats that she had as a baby. He found it and took it into the living room where he put Caleb in it. The boy was still sound asleep.
Snape sat down slowly as he watched Autumn kneel down by Caleb with her toys, speaking to him even though he was asleep. He couldn't help but smile.
Autumn was the result of a one-night stand, and her mother had dumped her on him saying she didn't want her. Snape was barely able to take care of himself, let alone a little girl, at that point, and he almost abandoned her, but when he looked into her dark blue eyes, he fell in love. He did his best to raise her, and also did his best to keep her away from the Dark Lord's prying eyes.
A knock on his door startled Snape from his memories, and he frowned. He closed the living room door and went to the front door. Snape opened it slowly, revealing Lucius Malfoy on the doorstep. 'Lucius?' he asked, opening the door fully.
It was then that he noticed the bundle Lucius was carrying and he frowned. 'Severus, I trust you are well?' Lucius asked, a small smirk appearing on his mouth at the sound of Autumn giggling in the living room. Lucius and Narcissa were Autumn's godparents and had promised not to reveal her to the Dark Lord.
'Yes, Lucius, and you?' Snape asked, glancing nervously at the bundle.
'You remember the meeting, Severus. The Dark Lord charged you with raising his son should anything happen to him,' Lucius told him and handed the bundle to Snape.
'Yes, I remember. I don't understand why he wants me to do it, though. He knows I wouldn't be able to provide for him,' Snape answered, looking down at the boy in his arms.
'No need to worry, Severus. You know our Lord would not leave his son wanting. He has provided funds for Zacharias,' Lucius answered, nodding to a letter sticking out of the blanket around Zacharias.
Snape nodded, knowing he had no choice. He wondered how he had gone from having one child to three in the space of an hour. Snape swallowed hard and placed Zacharias down on a table next to the door. Snape took the letter and opened it.
Severus,
If you are reading this, then I am gone. I leave my son, Zacharias, in your care. Upon my death, I have requested my account be emptied into yours.
Your Lord
Severus gaped at the words on the page, knowing the Dark Lord had gained a lot of wealth during his travels to Europe and had quite a fortune. 'You will be fine, my friend,' Lucius said, smiling at him.
Snape nodded numbly, before looking at Zacharias. 'He had an account?' Snape asked in disbelief, gesturing to the letter.
Lucius chuckled. 'Under a fake name, but it was charmed to empty if something happened to him. He set it up as soon as he knew Olivia was pregnant,' Lucius answered, shaking his head as he thought of the poor girl who endured the Dark Lord's abuse.
Snape nodded, his eyes also becoming saddened as he thought of Zacharias' mother. The poor girl had died giving birth to him. It was said Olivia gave up before she had a chance to even look at him. The only time the Dark Lord was lenient with her was during her pregnancy. 'I will take care of him,' Snape whispered, knowing he had no other choice.
'Good,' Lucius said, and shook his hand before disappearing out the door and down the road.
Snape closed the door and sighed. He knew he wouldn't be able to bring up three children. Snape picked Zacharias up and moved into the living room. Autumn had fallen asleep on the couch, and he smiled down at her. Snape walked over to Caleb and picked him up, and put Zacharias down instead. Snape looked at Autumn and hoped she wouldn't notice the difference. He decided he would take Caleb to his godfather.
Before leaving, he ordered his House-Elf, Tino, to watch the children, before Disapparating.
oOoOo
Sirius was fuming at Peter. He couldn't believe the bastard had given up the location of the Potter's to You-Know-Who so easily. He scowled, and stormed out of Grimmauld Place, intent on finding the little snitch and killing him.
Something out of the corner of his eye startled him, and he turned to find Severus Snape there holding a bundle. 'Snivellus,' Sirius greeted but didn't lower his wand.
Snape glared at him. 'You have responsibilities, so Wormtail will have to wait,' he said, already knowing what Sirius was planning to do.
'Oh really? What do you know, Snivellus? Harry was given to his aunt and uncle, and Caleb is dead. What responsibilities do I have, huh?' Sirius shouted, taking a threatening step towards Snape.
Snape didn't move and held out the bundle to Sirius who frowned. Sirius stepped forward and took the bundle. 'Harry?' he asked, looking at Snape in confusion.
Snape shook his head. 'No, Caleb. The oaf grabbed Harry and left Caleb there to die. I took him before that could happen,' Snape answered, his eyes glazing over as he thought of Lily.
'It was you,' Sirius said, pointing to him. 'You were there. I saw you Disapparate when I entered the nursery. At the time I didn't know who it was,' Sirius clarified, looking down at the bundle.
'Take care of him,' Snape said and turned to walk away.
Sirius nodded. 'Thanks, Snape,' he called to him.
Snape smirked, but a deep sadness lingered in his eyes. He raised a hand to show Sirius he heard him before Disapparating home.
Sirius looked down at Caleb and smiled, all thoughts of going after Pettigrew and killing him left his mind as he took the small boy into Grimmauld Place.