He smeared remains of chalk all over his face as he wiped it on his left sleeve. With a groan he rose from his kneeling position, stretching his back. He took a few steps back to admire his work – a complicated circle, about 20 feet wide, for the upcoming calling. "Whew, this time you have outdone yourself, Caz!"

The young man spoke to himself, patting himself on his shoulder. He made his way over to his desk where he put the remaining piece of chalk in a drawer. He sat down heavily on the cushioned armchair, leaning back into it his eyes closed. He stayed like that several minutes, slowing down his breathing, relaxing completely. He slowly opened his eyes, the soft light of the candles distributed all over the otherwise dark cellar, reflecting in them.

On his way to the circle, he discarded his outer robe leaving him in his jeans and black t-shirt. With a sigh he pulled off his black gloves and laid them on top of his neatly folded robe on a low table. He frowned at his revealed hands. On the back there were circles carved into the flesh, sharp and exact drawn lines. They were similar to the one Caz had drawn onto the floor previously.

By a snap of his fingers his wand came flying from behind. He caught it in midair and flicked it towards a shelf on the wall. Seven artifacts came flying and distributed themselves evenly around the circle. "Cup, diary, ring, locket, diadem, wand and a preserved snake´s corpse."

He looked over the artifacts, double-checking their position. He carefully rearranged the container with the snake a little to the left and nodded at his work, stowing his wand away into his pocket. He stood there in perfect silence for another five minutes collecting his thoughts. Despite all the effort he put into gathering those items and preparing the calling, he still had second thoughts. He wasn't sure if he would be able to handle the dark magic he is about to call.

"Well, curiosity killed the cat!"

He took a firm stance on the edge of the circle, concentrating on its middle, his eyes fixating the core of the drawing. Then he clapped his hands, pressing them together.

"Ich, Cassius Samael Constantine, rufe dich, Seele, die du in diesen Gefäßen ruhst. Ich rufe dich in diese Welt, auf dass du dich zeigst und dein Wissen offenbarst. Zeige dich!"

He shouted the last words, moving his hands apart, the circles on them glowing red. A small string of magic connected his hand growing stronger by the second. He held the energy like that a few moments, the power pulsating and flowing back and forth between his left and right. Then, with another shout of pure agitation, he dropped to his knees, pressing his hands flat onto the outer rim of the circle. Caz felt his magic draining into the circle, bringing the runes to life, awakening them. The artifacts started to glow, blue lines forming, forcing their way to the core of the circle. There they met and started to manifest in a blue haze. Caz smiled.

Just as planned…

He watched in fascination as more and more blue light poured into the middle, the haze becoming more and more solid by the second. He was so caught up in the calling he didn't realize that the circle still drew huge amounts of magic out of him, until he shivered violently.

Damn…

"Damn."

"DAMN!"

Caz tried desperately to severe his connection to the circle, before his magic got completely exhausted by the calling. But once started, it was impossible to stop it. He glanced at the blue glow again, briefly wondering about the form it had taken, and smiled weakly.

"So that's how it ends, huh?"

His last thought was that he probably deserved this, before he fainted and collapsed onto the floor, his hands still stuck to the circle.

Xxx

He heard his blood rushing in his ears; pounding loud and hard – and fuelling his headache to the extreme. He groaned softly and opened his eyes. Absolute darkness greeted him.

He closed his eyes again, concentrating on his body. The more he became aware of himself, the more he felt alive again. He felt his heart beating, the cool stone floor underneath him, cold sweat on his skin. A few deep breaths later he realized, he was still flat on the ground his arms stretched over his head, so he rolled over and moved his arms to the sides of his body. Apparently his limbs had gone dead and it hurt like hell as the blood flowed back into them. He groaned but yet felt some kind of satisfaction, since pain meant he was truly alive.

Bit by bit the events of last night - Last night? - came back to Caz. The circle, the blue glow and the horrendous amount of magic the calling took. He was rather sure that a simple soul calling shouldn't acquire that much magic, especially with eight anchor points. The amount should have been close to zero and that's the reason he didn't include the option of stopping the calling to the drawing. It just made things unnecessarily complicated so he skipped that. He practically heard his father´s stern voice scolding him for being lazy and that he deserved whatever the outcome would be, even if it meant death.

He allowed himself to just lay back for some more time, but soon sensed that there was something wrong. Caz concentrated on his surroundings and there was definitely something off. He turned around and got onto his knees. He strained his eyes but he wasn't able to recognize anything in the darkness. The candles must have burnt down completely which meant he must have lain there for quite some time. He searched for his wand but it must have slipped out of his pocket so he snapped his fingers but his wand didn't respond. "Magical exhaustion… great…"

Sighing Caz got up, stumbling into the general direction where his table should be located. He bumped into it painfully. He found matches and a couple new candles. With the soft light of the candle he easily found his wand, which obviously fell out of his pocket and had clattered away. He flicked it experimentally and though he was able to feel a weak magic flow there was no reaction. "Tsk, I hope my magic doesn't take too long to recover…"

Caz stuffed it back into his jeans and turned his attention towards the circle. "Well, let´s see what mess I got here…"

To his disappointment, the artifact in front of him seemed to have disappeared, as well as the ones on his left and right. Or rather deteriorated, judging by the small heaps of dust in their place. He proceeded farther into the circle, his candle just allowing him to see a couple feet in front of him. One by one he checked the artifacts, but all of them vanished.

As he got closer to the middle of the circle a faint blue glow became visible. It surrounded a small form, which he couldn't make out yet. He made another step and his breath hitched as the small form was engulfed by the candle´s light. The candle trembled in his hand, Caz having a hard time to comprehend what he had found.

"What the…"

The small form revealed itself as a human body. Caz dropped to his knees, setting the candle down next to him. He rolled the body over and looked into the face of a child, white skin in stark contrast to its raven hair and red lips. Caz felt for the pulse, finding it weak but steady, which seemed to be a small wonder judging by the child´s low overall temperature. He didn't think twice as he picked the stark naked boy up and started for the wooden door on the far end of the room.

It took Caz quite some determination to climb the stairs to the second floor of his apartment and he was panting heavily thanks to his own exhaustion as he reached his bedroom. He laid the boy down on his own bed spreading the sheets over him and tugging him in tightly. He was relieved to see the small body relax under the covers.

"There is not much I can do right now without my magic… and I can hardly go to St. Mungo´s or call someone… But you don't look too bad so I am sure you make it till tomorrow. I´ll just watch over you."

Caz sat back in his beanbag and stared at the boy, thinking hard how something like that could possibly happen. He knew that resurrecting a body is possible, but it would have required a human sacrifice to bring back a soul to its body. He on the other hand had only attempted to create an afterimage of a soul and not completely call it into this world. He leaned back, staring at the ceiling. He heard the soft breathing of the boy in his bed. And soon the rhythmic sound lulled him into a dreamless sleep.

Xxx

He woke to the bright light of the morning sun, stretching in his beanbag. Still half asleep he shuffled to his bathroom, shedding his clothes, leaving them in a heap next to the door and got into the shower. He basked in the hot water, relaxing completely for the first time since his messed up calling. This thought brought him back to the small boy in his bed. He dropped his shampoo suddenly remembering this. He couldn't find the peace to continue his shower so he got out, dried himself off and slipped into a spare pair of boxers. Caz combed his hair and brushed his teeth. Doing this he saw himself in the mirror and nearly dropped his toothbrush.

He looked like crap. He had dark circles under his eyes, which had lost their usual violet gleam to them. They were a tired, dull black. His dark brown hair laid flat on his head, instead of sticking out wildly; it seemed it had lost all its vigor. His skin was white, almost waxen. And he had to admit he also felt as bad as he looked. Taking a deep breath he turned and headed for the bedroom, just to find the boy still fast asleep and not stirring at all. He considered waking him for a moment but decided against it as he heard his own stomach rumbling. He just checked the boy´s vitals and found them stable enough to leave him alone for some time. "He doesn't look like waking up soon anyway…"

Caz shrugged and went for the door and eventually for the kitchen downstairs. He rummaged through his fridge and freezer but gave up soon and got the phone to order pizza. He thought about his friends laughing at him using the muggle pizza service, but for once he was glad he knew how to use a phone and where to call. "A wizard is really useless without his magic…"

In the meantime he found out that he was unconscious for almost two days, but there was no sense in pondering over that. The pizza didn't take long to be delivered. Caz settled himself down in front of his flatscreen TV and switched it on, devouring his food. "Yeah right, The Walking Dead, just what I need right now! Ah that's better…"

Cartoons always seemed to lighten Caz´ mood; the muggles creativity seemed endless to him. But he didn't have time to indulge in them as he usually did, since he felt his magic strengthen due to the food he just had. To be on the safe side, he pulled out his wand and waved it; the sparks emitting from it were enough proof that his magic had returned to some degree.

Feeling a little better than he had earlier he headed upstairs to check on the boy; the child slept still peacefully. He pulled back the covers and spelled the boy some clothes on – blue pajama pants and a white shirt. Then he started to move his wand up and down his body scanning him for injuries, but to Caz´ relieve there weren't any. He also checked his temperature and pulse rate. Everything was at a normal level so all, the boy suffered off right now was utter exhaustion. Caz covered him again with the sheets and hesitantly brushed a loose strand of hair out of his face.

Caz moved over to the beanbag and sat down. He snapped his fingers and the book on the nightstand came flying over. He opened it and started reading but soon found his mind occupied by who the boy is. Or rather what mind or soul resided within him. He had a bad feeling that it could be someone he really shouldn't have resurrected; even if it was by accident.

Caz still had no idea why a simple soulcalling could possibly result in a resurrection. He really had to consult his books about this and hopefully found an answer, since books about necromancy are rather rare and it would take him quite some time to find others besides the ones he had. And it always bore the danger of coming too close to his clan, from which he is hiding for almost ten years now. He buried his face in his left hand, rubbing it.

But besides that he really had to make up his mind about what to do with the boy. If he truly turned out to be the former dark lord, he couldn't let him run loose; and the child´s identity was something he was rather sure about. Best would be to just get over with it and kill him again. Caz shuddered at that thought; that was something he left behind together with his former self and his clan. No, there had to be a different way. But a second chance for a dark lord?

Flashbacks of his own former life popped up in his mind. Pictures of himself, all in black, hair slicked back, blood on his hands, corpses in the circle before him; then his last resurrection, when he hesitated to kill the girl in front of him and in the end snapped and escaped the clutches of his clan. His desperate attempt to get away from them and finally Hogwarts and its teachers, who took him in and hid him from the ones he once called family and now tried to take his life. He remembered clearly that one evening when the Headmaster read his mind, saw his memories and yet forgave him, granting him a second chance and the chance to repent.

There must be an alternative to killing him…

"Seems not very interesting, that book."

Caz´ head shot up and he stared at the boy sitting in the bed.

"Well, looking at you it´s hard to believe that you are able to read at all."

Caz closed his mouth shut and sent the book towards a shelf with a snap of his fingers.

"Wand- and wordless magic… impressive."

He got up from his beanbag and stepped closer to the bed, never taking his eyes of the boy. He snapped again and conjured a wooden chair to sit down at the side of the bed. Just to be safe Caz took out his wand playing with it not exactly knowing what to say. The boy watched him with great interest.

Caz broke the silence. "Do you remember your name?"

The boy looked at him closely, obviously thinking hard. Whether about his name or about telling him the truth, he didn't know. Eventually the boy answered. "It´s Tom. My name is Tom."

Despite the worst case just came true, Caz smiled at the boy. After all, he had already suspected and came to terms with it. "Hi Tom, I am Caz. Nice to meet you."

He extended his hand to Tom who took it hesitantly. The boy was lost in confusion as if he just realized that he was truly alive.

"You called me. I remember your voice. But why? And how?"

"I can tell you about the why, but about the how I am not quite sure myself. What else do you remember? Besides hearing my voice?"

Tom frowned, obviously trying to recall the events of that night.

"Just your voice and a blue light in the darkness. It grew brighter and brighter and then I woke up here."

Caz was rather disappointed; he had hoped Tom would remember a little more than that.

"So what did you do to bring me here and why did you do it?"

Tom asked impatiently.

"I did a soulcalling a couple days ago with the intention to retrieve your former self´s knowledge of dark magic to continue my research in this field. After all, you knew most about rituals and dark arts in generally. So I gathered the artifacts that served you as horcruxes, well six of them and your wand, and called your soul in a ritual. Obviously something went wrong…"

Tom huffed.

"Something went wrong… nice way to say it."

Caz frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"That every time I come to this world, it´s a mistake."

Caz heard the sadness in the boy´s voice, feeling sorry for him.

"Hey, that's not what I meant to say. The ritual went wrong, that's true but the result… well I can´t say for sure. I guess we just have to make the best out of it." He smiled at the younger encouraging.

"So you are not going to… kill me?"

"Kill you? No! Come on, I couldn't kill some kid!"

Tom looked at him confused. "You do know who I am, don't you? So you wouldn't kill a child exactly."

Caz got up crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I said no. See this as your second chance. As long as you behave there won´t be a problem, right?"

Tom just stared at him, disbelieving. Caz seemed to not expect an answer so he continued. "You sure are hungry. Why don't you get ready and come downstairs, I´ll fix you some food. The bathroom is over there, in the cabinet under the sink is a spare toothbrush and fresh towels and… here you go!"

Caz waved his wand at some fresh clothes of his own, changing them into Tom´s size; jeans and a green t-shirt with some brand name on it. "Nothing fancy but it´ll do ´til we get you some clothes. Take your time, no need to hurry."

With this, Caz went out and down the stairs.

Xxx

A second chance, huh?

Tom pushed the sheets back shivering slightly at the loss of warmth. He stared at his feet in disbelief, then at his hands, closing and opening them again and again. They were definitely his own. He swung his legs out of the bed touching the cool floor with his bare feet and got up carefully. But his body seemed healthy and strong enough to carry his weight so he moved to the bathroom.

There he turned to the sink, trying to look at himself in the mirror.

What the…

He had to stand on tiptoes to be able to look into it. He grabbed the rim of the sink for balance and stared at himself. There was no doubt that this was his younger self; a dark-haired boy with steel-blue eyes, pale skin and red lips. Tom got back down on his feet, sighing.

He stripped out of his pants and shirt and got under the shower. Tom had never enjoyed taking a shower more; the sensation of hot water on his skin which made him even more aware of his new old body. It was still a strange thought to be back on this world, but it could have been worse. His body trembled as faint memories of the last years came back to him; the nothingness, darkness, loneliness.

He suddenly had the need of some company; he swiftly brushed his teeth and slipped into the prepared clothes. He checked himself in the mirror next to the door and a small, slender boy stared at him; a boy he knew just too well.

I really do look like a child…

He shrugged and left the room, standing in a floor with two more doors and a staircase. Not caring for the doors and the rooms behind he headed down the stairs, where he could hear the other rustling with some paper. The stairs led right into the kitchen and there Caz sat on the table, reading the newspaper. Tom wasn't sure if he should come over and sit down as well so he just stood there and watched the other closely.

The man on the table had dark brown tousled hair, sticking up in all possible places. His left ear had several piercings and he had another one on his left eyebrow. He wore a bright yellow shirt with a colorful design on it, a necklace with some sort of coin and a few leather bracelets on his wrists. The back of his hands were covered with crisscrossing scars.

"Hey, come over and sit down. No need for you to stand around."

Tom snapped out of staring at Caz. He slowly advanced to the table and sat down.

"Are you hungry?"

Tom was about to deny it, but his stomach rumbled; Caz grinned and waved his hand. At his command a flat box floated over to the table right in front of Tom. He looked at it curiously. "What´s that?"

"It´s pizza, just open it."

Tom lifted the lid and frowned at the contents. Caz raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you know pizza?"

"No."

"Just try it, it´s delicious. You gonna like it, all kids like pizza."

Tom glared at Caz comparing him to other children but took a piece nevertheless. He took a small bite, chewed it carefully and swallowed. Caz observed him expectantly.

"What do you think?"

"It´s good, is this a new invention?"

"Not really new, muggles were eating it for centuries."

Tom dropped his slice of pizza. "Muggles…"

Caz frowned, surprised by Tom´s sudden reaction. "Something wrong with it?"

"I am not going to eat muggle food."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am not going to."

Tom almost jumped as Caz broke into loud laughter suddenly. How could that punk dare to laugh at him like that?

"Guess what. That's all there is for today. Eat it or leave it, I don't care for your antics, but don't start crying if I finish it later."

Tom stared at him uncomprehending. This guy just told him, that he didn't care if he, menace to human mankind, got angry; and hungry!

"You… dare to speak to me like that?"

The young man was still sniggering as he answered. "What else should I say? This is just too silly…"

Tom still looked affronted. This man couldn't possibly expect him to eat ordinary muggle food.

"What´s silly about it? We are both wizards and shouldn´t stoop so low as to mingle with muggle affairs."

Caz snorted.

"Bad luck for you then, to end up with a guy who has no qualms about muggle affairs. I like their food, their clothes, their ways of entertainment, even their music. They may not be able to use magic, but they do create it in their own ways."

Tom didn't react being caught up in his thoughts.

"Times have changed, Tom. We still hide our magic from the muggle world, stricter than ever. But at the same time, we have opened up to what they call technology, as well as to their various services such as delivery service."

Times have changed…

"What date do we have anyway?"

If Caz was surprised by the sudden change of topic, he didn't show. But Tom wasn't in the mood to debate his principles right now.

"It´s 10th of July, 2011."

Tom tried to remember how much time had passed, but he seemed to have a hard time to remember his past life. There were a few fragments, the stronger emotions and thoughts, he was able to call up but simple data like the date of his death were lost. Panic welled up inside him, as he thought about his magical ability. He searched frantically for his magical flow and was more than relieved to feel it pulsating inside him. Tom then tried to call up some simple spells, but his mind was blank. Fragments of incantations popped up, but nothing usable. He groaned in frustration.

"Tom?"

Caz shook him by his shoulders. "Jeez, I called you several times, but you seemed to have spaced out. It must be a huge shock, huh?"

"Thirteen years…"

"Yeah, quite some time…"

"Have people forgotten about me?"

"No. How could they possibly forget?"

They both fell into silence until Tom´s stomach rumbled again. He eyed the pizza warily.

"Come on, Tom, you like it, don't you? I´m not going to tell anyone, okay?"

Tom glared at Caz, but decided that he was too hungry and that so called pizza too delicious to turn it down and picked another slice. Caz returned to reading the newspaper, the daily prophet, while Tom finished his pizza.

I would never admit it openly, but it tastes really good…

Yet he wasn't able to eat it all. There were still two slices left but he was just too full, so he pushed the box away. Caz perked up at that.

"Are you done? May I have the leftovers?"

"Go ahead. May I see the newspaper?"

Caz tossed it over to him and let the box float over the table.

"Yeah, I am done anyway."

The older finished the pizza, smiling happily, while Tom looked over the front page.

"Government encourages young magical folks to start families"

"Application for prep schools starts today"

"The world wide web and its possibilities for wizarding community"

"Rebels uprising in Russia"

Tom frowned. "Hey Caz, what is a world wide web?"

The older swallowed the last piece of pizza. "It´s hard to explain; the world wide web, or internet, connects people all over the world. I can show you later on, okay? It´s probably easier to understand if you see it for yourself."

"And prep schools?"

"The government introduced them to society about ten years ago. Magical folks can send their children there starting at the age of six, together with young muggle born wizards and witches. They learn magical theory and history; additionally they have lessons in math, English and other common stuff. People accept this way of teaching rather good. Especially for muggleborn children, it´s a great opportunity to get used to the world they are about to enter."

"How do they manage the children´s families?"

"Complicated spellwork. They think their children go to special schools for the gifted. It´s lifted the day they get their invitation for Hogwarts. Counselors from Hogwarts visit them at home and try to explain the matter to them. If they cause problems, they alter their minds and put them under the spell again. It´s then up to their children to decide about whether or not telling them. This way, they don't have to suffer from their non-understanding parents and can finish their education in peace."

"And orphans?" Tom asked seriously.

Caz looked at him, obviously surprised that Tom thought about them.

I really do need to look into his past.

"It surprises me that you mention them; didn't expect that, since most wizards and witches tend to forget about them, leaving the kids to themselves."

The older stopped for a moment, studying Tom´s face, not sure what to make of the emotions crossing the boy´s features.

"But I know what it means to be on your own so I started an initiative for wizarding orphans together with some others who had a similar past. As soon as one of them shows first signs of magic we come and collect the child and bring it into the orphanage we founded. It is still an orphanage but at least, the kids can live there without getting bullied for being different. And they get provided everything they need for their wellbeing and further education."

Tom seemed somewhat pacified. "How do you come up for the costs of that project? Surely the government doesn't support it, does it?"

Caz grinned. "No, of course not; they couldn't care less. But I got some rather wealthy friends, who support the project."

The boy looked up at him. "So are you going to send me there? Into that orphanage?"

"And let you out of my sight? No, Tom, you are going to stay here with me, so don't worry."