Thank you to those of you who reviewed! Here's the second chapter! But don't start expecting updates everyday! (I'm extremely slow at typing!).
The oddly pretty green light careened through the air and hit Peter square in the chest.
Had he still been alive when he hit the ground, Peter Pettigrew would have seen young Harry Potter hiding, eyes wide with fear, under the black leather couch.
Six Years Later
Riddle Manor
Alexander Marvolo sat up in bed gasping. The image of the man, name unknown, was imprinted behind his eyelids. When he closed his eyes, Alex could still see the other's wide, brown eyes staring unseeingly at him- the eyes of the dead man who had haunted his dreams for the past six years. The first man he had seen killed.
Shivering, the boy grasped the thick duvet that covered him, dragging it away from him. The boy slowly slid out of the large four poster bed and crept around it to the door.
Brushing his long hair out of the way, Alex pressed his ear to the wooden door gently and listened intently for a few moments. No sounds emerged from the room beyond.
Carefully, with a well practised movement, Alex opened his door slightly, and squeezed through the gap, keeping one hand steadily on the door to stop it from moving and creaking.
Shaking slightly in the cold room, as he was only wearing silk pyjamas, the boy slowly but determinedly crept through the large sitting room with his arms firmly wrapped around himself. The boy gave the black leather couch a wide berth and made his way towards a second door which had 'Salazar' written on it in large cursive script.
Abruptly, Alex froze in place as a loud screeching noise echoed through the closed portrait hole at the other end of the room. Screaming. Walking faster now, Alex reached Salazar's door and entered the room in the same manner he had left his own.
Salazar's room was painted a deep forest green unlike his own which was a light, calming blue. The large room looked rather bare as there were only two things in it; the first a large wardrobe and the second a four poster bed much like his own.
Alex padded towards the bed and, very slowly so as not to disturb its inhabitant, slipped beneath the covers. Gradually, Alex slid closer and closer to the man sleeping beside him until they were touching.
"Mmmm" Salazar groaned as he awakened as always and turned his head to stare blearily at his thirteen year old brother who lay wide awake beside him. "Alex?"
Alex huddled closer to his older brother and, lying on his stomach, buried his face into the crevice between the mattress and his brother's arm. He was still shivering slightly. Salazar shifted and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him closer so that Alex's head rested in the niche between Salazar's neck and shoulder.
"What are you doing up this late Little One?" Salazar whispered softly in his ear, his deep voice already calming Alex's tremors.
"Someone's screaming again." Alex spoke into his brother's shoulder. Salazar's hand rubbed up and down his back gently.
"I put silencing charms on your door Al. You shouldn't have been able to hear anything unless you were in the sitting room. Tell me why you're still up"
"Nightmare" he whispered, burrowing in deeper towards Salazar.
"Which one?"
"The worst one."
Salazar readjusted his grip on his brother so that Alex lay directly on top of the eighteen year old. "You can sleep here tonight." He said, still rubbing the younger one's back. Salazar's eyes drooped with fatigue and he began to fall back to sleep.
"Sal?"
"Hmmm?"
'Tell me a story."
"Which one?" Salazar asked, eyes still firmly shut.
"I don't know."
"Let me think." Salazar shifted a little to get more comfortable and opened his eyes again. He ran a hand through Alex's hair whilst he stared at the nondescript ceiling trying to remember a story.
"Once there was a young Dementor named Dimitri," He whispered, his voice surprisingly loud in the large room, "who fell in love with a human."
"No! Not that one! Can you tell me the other one?"
"Which one?"
"The one about the baby boy. Please?"
"You always ask me to tell you that one!"
"It's my favourite and I haven't heard it in years" Alex admitted "Please Sal?"
"Okay" He sighed, closing his eyes once more. "Once upon a time there was a little wizard who lived with his mother and father in a little cottage in Godric's Hollow."
"What was his name?" Alex asked, resting his chin on Salazar's chest so that he could watch his brother's face.
"Hmmm?"
"The little wizard. What was his name?"
"Harry. His name was Harry."
"Oh." Alex said, sounding oddly disappointed.
"Can I carry on?" False annoyance littered Salazar's voice.
"Yes" Alex said, smiling slightly.
"Good. As I was saying, there once was a little wizard named Harry and he had green eyes and black hair just like you. His father was named James and he was the greatest auror in all the lands. His mother was named Lilly and she was so good looking that everyone thought she must be a veela, even though she had red hair.
Harry was very lucky for a wizard. He had powerful parents, one of whom was the heir of an extremely rich pureblood family, and he was surrounded by people who loved him. However, his father, who as I said before was a very good auror, got into some trouble. For some reason, the King of a neighbouring country had a personal feud with him.
The King disliked James so much that one night the King crept into James' house with the intention to kill him."
"How'd he get through the wards?"
"What wards?"
"If he was an auror he would have put wards around his house!"
"Oh hush! Stop trying to find holes in my story!"
"Well, he would've!"
"Yes, you're right. James did have wards around his house. He constructed one of the most powerful wards in existence."
"The Falangrious?"
"No, that's a dark spell. James wouldn't use that because he's a light wizard. He used the Fidelius Charm."
"But aren't light wizards bad?"
"No, they're just different from us, that's all."
"But Papa says that all light wizards are evil."
"He's just a little bit disillusioned. But don't tell him I told you that."
"Promise."
"Anyway. The Fidelius Charm was so strong that even Lord Vol- I mean the King couldn't break them. However, they had one major flaw."
"Flaw?" Alex asked excitedly, now wide awake and watching his brother's relaxed face in anticipation.
"Yes, flaw. The way the charm works is that it hides who ever it's cast upon. However, there has to be someone who knows where the person who's hiding is and where to find them otherwise no one would ever be able see that person again because they would always be hidden. The one who knows where they are hiding is called the Secret Keeper because they know the secret of where the person is hiding. Get it?"
Alex gave a small nod.
"Now the funny thing is that the Secret Keeper is the only one who can break the charm. If they share the secret with someone else by telling them where their charge is hiding, that 'someone else' is also able to find them."
"So the Secret Keeper is the flaw?"
"Exactly. In this case, the King found the Secret Keeper and threatened to kill him. James should have chosen a better Secret Keeper because this one betrayed him because of his own cowardice. The Secret Keeper told the King exactly where little Harry and his family was and James, who had no idea that his friend had betrayed him, was completely unprepared for the King's attack."
"What was the Secret Keeper's name?"
"Peter."
"And what was his last name?"
"Petti-something. I can't remember."
"Did he- did he look like a rat?"
Salazar looked at his brother curiously and shrugged before resuming his relaxed seemingly asleep position again.
"Don't know. Never met him. It's just a story Al. Don't take it so seriously."
"Kay" the boy sighed.
"So, once the king had gotten passed the wards he crept through the house trying to find James' bedroom since it was night-time and he was probably asleep."
"Why didn't he use a locator charm?"
"For Merlin's sake Al! Let me tell the story! And he couldn't have because even though he knew the secret, the Fidelius Charm prevents all magic from finding them."
"I'm sorry" said Alex, burying his face into Salazar's chest.
"It's fine." Salazar kissed the top of Alex's head before continuing. "After searching the whole house, he realised that neither Lilly nor James were in the house. Instead, their son Harry was upstairs asleep in his cot and another person, a child minder of some sort, was downstairs in the living room reading. So the King decided that it would be too dangerous to wait for James and his wife to return home so he decided that if he couldn't kill James he would kill Harry instead."
"Can I ask a question?"
"Is it important?"
"Yes," Alex nodded solemnly.
"Go ahead" Salazar sighed as if he had been greatly put upon.
"If Harry was hidden by the Fidelius charm… how did the child minder see him?"
"Good question. I… I don't know. But it's just a story Al it doesn't really matter."
"Sure." Alex agreed however his eyebrows remained scrunched in thought.
"Where was I?"
"The King is going to kill Harry."
"That's right. So the King sneaks into Harry's room and stands over his crib. And Harry who is, of course, an extremely cute little toddler is lying there fast asleep like all little boys should be at this time of night." At that Salazar tapped Alex playfully on the head and grinned. "But the King's thirst for revenge was greater than little Harry's appealing cuteness so the King raised his wand to cast that fatal spell."
"Avada Kedavra" Alex whispered.
"Avada Kedavra" Salazar nodded. "And the green light flew out of the King's wand and hit little Harry on the forehead. But," Salazar lowered his voice to a mere murmur to make his story more dramatic, "Harry didn't die. Instead, the light bounced off him and hit the ceiling making a huge crashing noise."
"What did the minder do?"
"She ran up to Harry's room to see what all of the commotion was. As soon as the King saw her, he fired the killing curse at her too. But the minder wasn't half as powerful as little Harry so she fell to the ground dead. Then, the King did something that would change little Harry's life forever. He picked the boy up and took him home with him."
"Do you think his parents are looking for him?"
"No, because when the King decided that he wanted to have Harry as his son he burnt the crib so that James and Lilly thought their son was dead. Then the King took Harry home with him and made him his son and spoiled him rotten. The end."
"You're horrible at story endings Salazar!"
"I am not! I just needed to finish it quickly because it's way past midnight and you Mister should be fast asleep. So hop to it!"
"Hrmmmmph" Alex sighed annoyed but complied anyway, settling comfortably against Salazar, listening to his brother's heartbeat.
"Salazar?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think Harry will ever see his parents again?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
Salazar yawned. Somewhere in the distance a wolf howled.
"Sal?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you-do you think the King was evil for what he did?"
"I don't know. In some ways yes but I think that mainly he was just a very lonely and amoral man."
"Sal?"
"Alex. Just go to sleep."
"But I-"
"Sleep!" Salazar commanded softly.
Once again Alex sighed in annoyance but this time settled down with every intention of going to sleep.
It had become a habit of his to seek comfort from his brother after having a nightmare. Salazar always knew how to calm him and make him feel safe.
Alex particularly liked listening to Salazar's heartbeat as it's steady rhythm always lulled him to sleep. So Alex pressed his ear to his brother's chest and felt his eyes droop involuntarily from tiredness.
Thump. Th-thump. Thump. Th-thump. Thump. Th-
CRASH!
A deafening noise reverberated through the room causing Alex to jump with terror. Salazar acted almost immediately, rolling over so that his body shielded Alex's and pointing something at the doorway from which the shocking noise had come.
"Peace" A melodic yet oddly cold voice said calmly.
Lord Voldemort had swung Salazar's door open and stood in the doorway his black robes contrasting dramatically with the light shining from the sitting room.
Salazar rolled off of Alex and both boys regarded the Dark Lord, their father, with expectation, hearts still beating dramatically after the unpleasant surprise.
"The Order is attacking. Alexander, return to your room and do not open the portrait door for anyone. Salazar… Let's go deal with them."
