Warning: mentions child abuse and rape.

Chapter one

After the fighting, after searching the grounds for injured people, after searching for more people that died, Harry Potter and his friends finally had some times to see about eating, to see about resting and to see about healing. The DA that survived refused to see any healer unless they were serious, they wanted to give the three healers at Hogwarts a chance to deal with the most seriously injured. Some of the most seriously injured weren't found until days later that had been buried under rubble or unconscious and couldn't call out for help. It had been Harry that went back to retrieve Severus Snape's body only to find him still breathing. It had been slow and cramped, but Harry levitated his old teacher out of the shrieking shack, through the tunnel, stopped the whomping willow and got Snape into the makeshift hospital where the three healers went about giving him potions and doing healing charms on all the bites he had received from Nagini. Harry knew now he was alive he would need to explain how Snape had been helping all along, but he really didn't want to go into details about anything, at least for a while. So Harry decided to let McGonagall and Kingsley see the memory Snape had given him, that would show proof.

Harry had been made to stay in the hospital for a week with all the injuries he had received, Neville also needed to stay but only for two days, Luna was made to stay for just over a day and Ernie five days, but out of the DA, those four had the most serious injuries. That had only happened after they had finished their search.

Harry had just left the hospital wing when Minerva McGonagall hurried towards him. At first Harry thought danger, but he noticed McGonagall's face looked concerned, but nothing else.

'Harry, I'm glad I found you.'

'Is something wrong professor?'

'You could say that, but it's nothing dangerous, just very shocking. I need you to come with me, up to the headmaster's office.'

'Oh, okay,' Harry's brow furrowed but followed McGonagall.

Minerva and Harry stepped into the large oval office and she went straight over to Albus Dumbledore's portrait.

'So Dumbledore has something to tell me?' Harry looked wary as he stared up at the portrait.

'Yes I do Harry, something I always wished I could tell you, but I could not. Before I explain let me say this, one reason for not telling you is I was sworn to secrecy, another reason, your connection with Tom is the main reason I never told you this, it would have been too dangerous. As you now know it was that piece of soul that gave you that connection with Tom, a connection he could use at any time.'

'Yeah, I know all that Dumbledore, that's why I let him kill me. Is this about why you never mentioned I would survive?'

'No, but I never knew for sure you would survive, I knew there was a chance, only a chance and only if Tom was the one to do it. No, this is about something more personal, one will make you angry, shocked and you might blame me, one will make you sad again. But let me say this, I could not stop it, this was out of my control because I was made to keep my word in regards to this secret. The only thing I could have done was break my promise and tell you but again with your connection it would have been too dangerous.'

'I get the connection because he used that to lure me to the department of mysteries where Sirius died, so if this was dangerous, then I get it, I would not have liked to be responsible for another death. I still blame myself for what happened to Sirius even if I did try to find out if he was at Grimmauld place or not.'

'Yes, I know, we discussed that. Alright Harry, this is going to be upsetting and I am sorry, but as I said I was made to keep my word that you would never know unless Tom was ever finished.'

'Who made you give your word because normally you just did what you thought was right?'

'Your father is the one that made me give my word.'

'My father,' Harry felt it instantly, something inside him said he wasn't going to like this, 'Okay, so what is this all about?'

'James was concerned about your safety and Lily's, he wasn't that concerned about his own life, he mainly wanted to keep you and his wife safe.'

'Okay, I get that, so what is it that's going to upset me?'

'James came up with a plan and he mainly did that because we did know there was a spy in the order of the phoenix. So even though he worked with Sirius to make it look like he was going to be the secret keeper, we now know it was Peter.'

'I know all that, just get to the rest Dumbledore, I already know I won't like it.'

'No you won't,' Albus sighs, 'Your mother did not want to do this, but James gave her no choice. Alright, James cast a memory charm on Lily then after removing a lot of her memories he then cast a few more charms, suggestions, Lily believed she was Roslyn Grey, Rose for short and Rose for a flower. He also suggested that she wanted to live overseas. He made sure she packed only clothes, nothing personal and nothing to let her know she was really Lily Potter, wife of James and mother of you. He made sure she left, using an illegal port key. He was going to send you with her, but if you were gone from the house then Tom would have searched the world for the boy mentioned in the prophecy. That is when he changed secret keepers from Sirius to Peter.'

'Hang on,' Harry shook his head, 'My mother was in the house that night, I told you what I heard when the dementors got near me. I explained what I saw in the cemetery that night, she died in that house. Then you explained about the protection I had all thanks to my mother sacrificing herself for me, so none of this makes sense.'

'It makes sense as James caught a death eater and used polyjuice potion to change the death eater into himself, along with some of his own memories, then he changed into your mother. It was not Lily Potter that died in that house seventeen years ago, it was a death eater as you're father and you're father died as you're mother, he stayed to protect you.'

Harry fell onto the sofa as he stared up at the portrait of Albus Dumbledore. He turned to look at McGonagall who looked anxious, he turned back to face the portrait.

'Are you telling me that my mother is alive, but she has no idea who she is?'

'Yes, that is what I am telling you. But there is more before I get to your mother.'

'More, bloody hell, how much more could there be?'

'The reason you're father took you're mother's place was because I had explained about the blood magic and the magic of love, so he knew if Lily did what any mother would do, you would survive, but he didn't want either of you to die, but he was willing. So because he looked like you're mother and did protect you, the blood protection still worked, probably not as I had hoped, it was the love from you're father that kept you protected all these years.'

'My mother is alive,' Harry's voice was quiet but tears had started to fall down his face. He sat with his head in his hands thinking about his mother being alive, but having no idea who she was. He knew he had to find her, but how would they get on, would they even like each other, Harry had no idea and he thoughts were on what if she didn't like him, what if they hated each other, that made Harry very nervous and wondered how he was going to find them.