The
Origins
Disclaimer: Characters, Hogwarts, places, and spells
belong to JKR, but the ideas are mostly mine.
A/N: This is basically the story of why
Voldermort is after Harry and what Lily and his eyes have to do with it
all. This story is going to range
through various time periods from before Lily's birth, to Lily's time in
Hogwarts, then to Harry's fifth year.
Good luck following it! Huge
thank yous to my beta-readers, Yolanda, Anne, and Elanor Gamgee!
Prologue
Grindelwald was in control of everything. The people of the world were clutched
between his five bony, slender fingers.
And when he wanted them to suffer, all he had to do was tighten his
grip. It was a tough time for the
average witch or wizard, not knowing what was to become of them, forever
fearing walking into a dark house to find your loved ones brutally
murdered. There was no Avada Kedavra in those days. Killing was done slowly, painfully.
And he knew that he was not immortal. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, he was
just a mere mortal, like those he killed.
He knew that one day there would be someone more powerful than he who
would set out to defeat him. He didn't
know when, and he didn't know who, but he knew that he would want someone to
succeed him. So he secured a way,
whereby even if he were gone, he would have an heir who would share his
powers. He told only his most trusted
followers, knowing they would complete the job once he was gone.
What he did not count on though, was that in 1945, after he
had been defeated by a wizard more powerful than he, his followers would be
punished too. Some were sent to
Azkaban, some were killed; others denied any connection to him, and returned to
a normal life. There was a young
wizard, who had been loyal to Grindelwald, even as a young boy in school. He decided that he would be the one to use
the spells to ensure an heir of Grindelwald.
Twenty-five years after Grindelwald's defeat, this young man decided to
finish Grindelwald's quest, to make him an heir with the power. The results were tremendous.
*
Tom Riddle was traveling around Europe, trying to find the
most powerful witches he could. He'd
infect them with Grindelwald's spell, wait for nine months and would check the
results. Nine spells had been cast
and these spells had produced three witches, four wizards, none of them holding
the power. Tom was getting
frustrated.
It was nearly midnight on a stormy evening in October. He had no place to stay. He was in the Muggle world. Walking along the path, he noticed a light
on up ahead. Excited, he quickened his
pace. The building housed an old pub,
but obviously, from the noise inside, it was still in use. He creaked open the door to tremendous
laughter. Stepping inside the frame he
saw a small room, lit dimly only by the fire and the candles set out on each
table. The whole pub was crowded around
a man, who seemed to be telling a funny tale.
A girl with a forest green dress covered by an apron turned towards Tom
once she heard the door creak shut. She
smiled immediately, a smile that lit up her eyes and her face. She was an Irish girl. It was evident by her bouncing, red curls
and her wide, blue eyes.
"Evening to yeh, would you like anything to drink?" She smiled warmly, and he stepped closer to
her. Her eyes were sparkling and her
cheeks were rosy.
"Just any sort of ale."
"Comin' right up."
He found an empty table towards the back of the room and sat, surveying
the Muggles in the room. Many were
obviously drunk, laughing loudly. As
one man with a beard told a joke, Tom laughed silently at the punch line. It'd been a long time since he'd been around
people, Muggles even. When the girl
brought him his glass, she sat across from him.
"Yeh're not from around here, are yeh?"
"No," he said softly, smiling at her. "Just passing through.
"And why would that be?"
"On my way to London."
"Yeh've got a journey up ahead."
"That I do."
"Got a name?"
"Tom. How 'bout
yours?"
She blushed slightly, then said, "I'm Daisy."
"Well, Daisy, it's nice to meet you."
"It's good to meet you too, Tom." They sat and chatted for a while, drinking countless tankards
full of ale, until each was rather noticeably drunk. Soon, they were the only two left in the pub, the rest of the
customers had left. Tom noticed Daisy
look out the window at the sun peaking over the horizon, and she made a move to
get up. "Yeh've got a place fer the
night?" Tom just shook his head no,
although he truly wasn't sure if he knew what she'd asked. "Well then, yeh can stay in the spare
room. I'll go make up the bed." She stumbled towards a door in the back and
went through, holding a candle in her hand for light.
Tom sat for fifteen minutes, and only when he felt himself
falling asleep did he decide to jerk himself awake and find Daisy. He teetered in the doorframe for a minute,
then called out to Daisy, standing in the pitch dark, not knowing where to go.
"In here!" she called out, barely audible. He faltered for a moment, then continued
on. He reached for a door, through
which a small beam of light was radiating.
He stepped into the light and saw Daisy fumbling with bed sheets. Her red curls had fallen loose, as the light
and shadows from the candle danced across her face, red from all the
liquor. He felt a longing to run his
hands through her hair and down her back.
He walked into the room, suddenly more aware of his desires. She turned as she heard him enter, and
giggled at the look of concentration on his face.
He grasped her shoulders and pulled her close to
him. "Tom…" she gasped, but it was just
as his mouth enveloped hers. He could
taste the alcohol on her tongue, and as their lips caressed he felt a shock of
energy run through him. He managed,
somehow, to pull her even closer to him, as his hands reached behind to the
fastenings of her dress. He undid them
easily, surprising even himself at how sober his mind was. She slipped out of the dress and grabbed his
shirt, unfastening his buttons. He
watched her hands, as they shook and fumbled over each one. She pulled open his shirt and ran her
fingers frantically up his chest. He
felt shivers run through his spine, and found that he was leading her to the
bed. They lay as one, cushioning each
other's fall. Daisy ran fingers through
his long hair as he explored the curves in her neck.
They made love that night and fell asleep in the wee hours
of the morning, in each others' arms.
The next morning, a pounding headache and a tickling on the stomach woke
Tom.
*
"Good morning," Daisy whispered to him. She closed her eyes and kissed him. But he didn't return the kiss. "What's the matter….what's wrong?" she
questioned him breathlessly. Then she
saw a gleam in his eyes that scared her, although she didn't know why. "Tom, Tom, what's going on?" Daisy felt very cold and exposed and found
that she was searching for something to cover herself up.
"You're a beautiful girl, Daisy." She smiled at that.
"Thank you, Tom, now, c'mere," she said, beckoning with her
arms extended.
"But you're a Muggle.
A retched Muggle!"
"Tom, what in the world is a Muggle?" But he refused to answer and continued to
study her. Frightened, she stood and
pushed him off of her, trying to collect her clothing.
"Oh no you don't," he grunted, grabbing her arm and swinging
her back onto the bed. He swung his
legs on either side of her, pushing her torso on the bed and holding her
down. "Retched Muggle," and he spit on
her. "But Grindelwald won't mind. An heir's an heir." And then he muttered words that she didn't
understand, something… Latin
maybe? All she could remember later was
hearing those words, feeling the hard, wooden object pushing into her abdomen,
and then feeling as though a train had hit her. She blacked out.
When she returned to consciousness, she was alone in the
room. She sat silent, wondering if it
all really had happened. The headache
that was throbbing behind her eyes did not help the situation. She lay back against the pillow and
cried. For five minutes, the silent
tears poured down her cheeks. When she
felt hollow inside, she stopped her crying and began to get dressed. She pulled the sheets off the bed and threw
them in the garbage. She didn't want
any reminder. Her life returned to
normal after that. She never told
anyone about the passionate night she had shared with the stranger. She put it out of her mind.
It was only two months later that she even thought about it
again. She cried herself to sleep that
night, not wanting to believe. This
couldn't be happening to her. The next
morning, it took all the courage that she could muster to go to the breakfast
table. As her family's heads were bent
in thanks, she surveyed her father's expression, wondering how he would
react. She barely ate any of the
porridge that had been prepared. She
just wanted to get it over with.
Before her father left for work, she managed to pull him and
her mother aside. "We need to
talk."
"Daisy, I'll be late for work."
"Daddy, please.
Now." Knowing the urgent tone of
her voice, he complied and allowed himself to be led into the family
parlor. "Mum and Dad…" Daisy struggled
to hold the tears from leaking out. "I
don't know what ter say. I'll just say
it then. I'm…God, I'm pregnant."
"Oh my God," gasped her mother, her hand flying to cover her
mouth.
"Jesus Christ, Daisy!" her father yelled. Daisy allowed the sob to escape from her
lips. "Yer…pregnant?"
"I'm sorry, Daddy!" she yelled, sinking to her knees in
front of his feet. He seemed surprised
by her reaction, and didn't move, until he pushed her away.
"Get off, whore."
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" she cried groveling at his
feet.
"I will not allow a whore in my household. Go pack yer things, yer leavin'." Daisy sat, crying for a moment. "Go." She pleaded to her mother, who averted her
eyes. "Mama, Mama. Please Mama, make him see. Make him see, Mama; don't make me leave,
Mama…Mama." She grabbed her mother's
hand. From behind, her father struck
her in the head.
"Don't you touch your mother. She raised you and you go out and disrespect her. Leave.
Now." Finally doing as she was told, Daisy ran
from the room in tears.
*
"John," said her mother, suddenly bursting into tears,
pleading to his turned back. "Don't
make her leave. We'll hide it, pretend
its ours." He turned around on her and
peered angrily into her eyes.
"No baby of a whore's will ever be ours." With that, he whipped around and walked from
the room.
*
Daisy was in the bedroom that she shared with her two
sisters, Lily and Petunia, packing a potato sack with all her belongings in the
world. Once she finished, she went out
to the kitchen where her sisters, only two and four were still finishing their
breakfasts. She kissed them each on
their foreheads, her tears dripping on to their faces. Her tears were contagious, as they also
began to cry.
"Daisy," they called after her, "Daisy, where are you
going?" She didn't trust herself to
speak. She tried to hold back her sobs, but as she closed the front door, she
broke down in tears, leaning against the door for support.
She walked that day; how far and how long, she would never
remember. She walked until her eyes
began to close, and when they did, she just lay beside the nearest tree and
slept. As the first beams of sunlight peaked over the horizon, Daisy didn't
move. She felt she had nowhere to be,
she no longer had a purpose in life.
Finally, after two days next to that tree, and forty-eight hours of
thinking about the unborn child inside
her, Daisy was up, preparing to fight her way back into the world.
Through the nine months of her pregnancy, she worked odd
jobs. She slept at the pub (but never
in the room she'd shared with Tom), and her stomach jut out more and
more. For some
reason, drunk men seemed to find her pregnancy attractive, and she was
constantly having to deal with their harassment. They assumed that because she was a single mother, she was
easy. She handled this well during the
days, but when she was alone in her bed at night, she would cry. She cried for her family, cried for herself,
and cried for the baby that would soon be brought into her hell of a
world.
One such night, soon after she'd fallen asleep, Daisy woke
suddenly. There was a pain like she'd
never felt. She grabbed at her abdomen,
gasping. With a cry, she realized the
truth. As quickly as she could, she
grabbed her dressing robe and ran for the doctor's house. She reached his door twenty minutes later
and pounded loudly, waiting for him to wake.
When the door finally opened, she screamed and collapsed to the
floor.
She must have regained consciousness later and given birth
to the baby, but she didn't remember.
All she knew was that when she woke the next morning, the sun was
peering through the curtains into her eyes.
She was in a large bed, dressed in a white nightgown that was not her
own. As she tried to recollect what had
happened, she heard a soft cry at the end of the bed. She crawled her way down and peered over the chestnut
footboard. In a small cradle, dressed
in white, was the prettiest little baby she'd ever seen. As Daisy's eyes filled with tears, she
reached down to the baby, scooped her up, and cradled her in her arms. The baby stopped crying and peered up at
her. With the smallest of smiles, the
tiny child yawned and fell back to sleep.
"Baby doll, look at yer tiny hands," Daisy cooed. With the slightest creak in the door, the
doctor's wife entered.
"Oh, you're awake.
Did she wake you?"
"No. Oh goodness,
Louise, a baby girl?" Louise
nodded. "My baby girl." Louise smiled fondly at Daisy.
"Yes she is, and you've got to give her a good name." Daisy thought for a moment, and then she
knew.
"My sisters, Lily and Petunia. I'll name you after them.
Lily, my baby Lily." She pulled
Lily up to her chest and rocked her back and forth. "Louise? Do you know what today's date is?"
"It's July 31st, Daisy."
"July 31st, Happy Birthday Lily."
*
The first few weeks were tough for the new, small
family. Soon, Daisy fell into a routine
at the pub, although she was struggling to feed herself. She would have to steal scraps from the
plates of the customers, just to take an edge off her hunger. It wasn't until little Lily was almost two
that things drastically changed for Daisy.
Working in the pub, trying to convince the last few drunks
to leave, she saw a man stumble in and collapse on the step. Daisy was wary of the stranger, but she
helped him into a bed, and slowly he began to recuperate. Through weeks of nurturing, Daisy nursed the
stranger back to health. Once he was
able to sit in his bed, Lily would come in during the day and play games with
the man, and he would tell her stories of far away lands. Daisy and the man, Jack Evans, became
friends as they talked each day.
When he finally was fully healthy, Jack helped her by
working in the pub. The customers began
to enjoy his company as well, inviting him to listen in on their stories and
jokes. Some days, he would disappear
right before suppertime, and would return with a basket full of food for Daisy,
Lily, and himself. He was becoming part
of Daisy and Lily's everyday life.
Jack and Daisy became close friends, talking in the pub,
waiting for the room to clear. As they
separated towards their respective bedrooms, he always kissed her on the top of
her head and whispered, "Goodnight Daisy, tomorrow's another day that we'll
finish like this." It always made her
smile. One night was slightly
different. Rather than kissing Daisy's
head, Jack tilted her head towards his and kissed her lips. She stepped back, slightly surprised, but
then smiled and stepped forward for another kiss. This was their new nightly ritual.
One morning, when three-year-old Lily ran into his bedroom
just as she always did, the bed was made, the room was cleaned, and all
evidence that a man had ever lived there was gone. Lily screamed and looked under the bed for her friend. She ran to her mother's room, crying.
"Mummy! Mummy! Jack's gone, Mummy! He's disappeared-ed. Mummy!
Where is he? Mummy, I miss
him!" She jumped into her mother's
arms, as Daisy tried to soothe her. She
herself was startled, but tried not to let it show.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, he'll be back." But she wasn't so sure herself. And he didn't come back. Months later, Daisy was working in the pub,
trying to convince the last few drunks to leave, when the door swung open to
reveal Jack, looking exhausted. Daisy
cried out his name and ran to him. She
swung her arms around him totally relieved.
"Daisy, Daisy," he whispered into her hair as he picked her
up and spun her around.
"Jack! Where did you
go? Why did you leave us?" He slowly dropped her to her feet.
"I had to think about things; about my life and how it
has changed ever since I came here.
Daisy, come sit down." He led
her to the nearest empty table. "Daisy,
I loved my time here. I love you, and I
love Lily, and I think…" He paused for a second. "I think we should get married."
Daisy covered her mouth in shock and her eyes filled with
tears. She shook her head in
disbelief. Jack's smile faded. "Well, if you don't want to…." His voice
drifted off.
"Oh Jack, no! That's
not what I meant. Of course! Of course, of course, of course! I would love to marry you!" He beamed at her, as she placed her hand on
his cheek and kissed him. He grabbed
her left hand, pulled it down towards him, and slid on her ring finger a very
small, but still beautiful, diamond ring.
Both Jack and Daisy slept in Daisy's room that night and
when Lily came in the next morning, she was pleasantly surprised. She jumped up into the bed with them,
burrowing under the covers between them.
The new couple smiled at each other.
"Lily, baby, how would you like to have a daddy?" Daisy
asked the young girl.
"No!" Lily cried, surprising both Jack and Daisy. Lily suddenly twisted to grab Jack's
arm. "I don't wanna daddy! I want Jack!" Daisy's eyes sparkled with her smile.
"Well, what if Jack was your daddy?" Daisy asked, with the air of one making a
bargain.
"That'd be the bestest."
"It's settled then," Jack said in a resolute tone, "I'm your
new Daddy."
"Hi Daddy," Lily whispered, as she lay her head on his chest
and closed her eyes.
This new family built a life for themselves, opening their
own pub. They thrived healthily, and at
four, Lily became a big sister to baby Petunia. The sisters got along well as they were growing up. They went to school and had friends there,
but at home, it was mainly only the two playing games of make believe in the
attic. They often got in trouble,
though. Petunia had broken her wrist
more than once, while Lily had had some nasty bruises on her knees. But everyone was happy, and supposedly, they
lived happily ever after.
One day towards the end of June changed the supposed happily
ever after ending for the Evans family.
The four were sitting at breakfast, as they always did, praying thanks
for their meal, when suddenly a scratching noise was heard on the window. Seven-year-old Petunia jumped from her seat
and ran towards the noise.
"Petunia, come in here and sit down!"
"Mummy, there's a huge birdie outside."
"Petunia, we've talked about yer lyin'."
"I'm not, Mummy, come look." Exasperated, Daisy stood and walked to the family room where her
daughter was standing. She gasped as she
saw a large brown owl tapping on the window.
"Jack! Jack, get in here!" Jack ran in from the kitchen. "Jack, the owl's tappin'. Yeh don't
suppose…"
"Petunia, open the window," he interrupted her. Petunia pulled the
latch and the window burst open. The large owl flew into the kitchen. Jack and Daisy just looked at each other as Lily shrieked. They ran to the kitchen as fast as they
could, worried. But her shrieks were
not from fright, in fact, they were shrieks of joy and disbelief. She was holding a white piece of parchment,
which she looked up from as her parents entered the room.
"Mummy, Daddy, I'm a witch!" Jack burst out laughing.
"Sweetheart, you're not that horrible!"
"Not like that, like-" she waved her arms around and shouted
nonsense words as if to prove her point, "that."
"Lily, those sorts of witches aren't real. They're just in the story books."
"Nuh-uh." Little
Petunia stepped up. "She is too. I saw her do stuff. She just blinked her eyes twice and two
dolls jumped into her arms." With those
words, Daisy looked at Lily in alarm.
"Now, Lily," she said slowly, "Yeh shouldn' trick yer sister
like that. It's not fair to her. Now she's got her hopes all up."
"Mama," said Lily, with the air of one explaining something
complicated to a toddler, "I am so a witch.
Look at what the owl brought me.
From the witch school. It says I
gotta go."
Jack grabbed the paper with alarm. "The owl brought it?" he asked before reading it.
"Yup. Go on, read
it." Daisy looked over Jack's shoulder
as they both read the parchment. They
looked at each other questioningly.
Should they believe it? The
outside was addressed:
Miss L. Evans
The bedroom shared with her sister
12 Krelborn Ln
County Cork
Ireland
Jack and Daisy shared a surprised look, then turned towards
the letter.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus
Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump)
Dear Miss Evans,
We are
pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find
enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins
on September 1. We await your owl by no
later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
"Daddy, what's it say?" asked Petunia, pulling her father's
trouser leg.
"Nothing sweetheart," he reassured her. "Why don't you go up to your room? Lily will be up soon." Petunia, looking very put out, stormed her
way up the steps to her bedroom. "Now,
Lily. You can't expect us to believe
this trickery. What in the world are
you writing?" he asked, seeing her scribbling.
"My reply for the owl," Lily said matter-of-factly as she
pointed to the owl sitting on the kitchen windowsill. Daisy shrieked her surprise as she noticed the owl was still
there. Lily walked over to the bird and handed it the note. It immediately flew for the window that
remained open in the family room. Daisy
waved her hand helplessly towards it, as if trying to stop it, then pleaded to
Jack with her eyes.
"All right, that's enough young lady! This nonsense is over! Clean up the breakfast dishes, then go and
get your chores done." But Daisy gasped
at the end of his sentence. As Lily blinked
her eyes four times, all the silverware the family had used jumped up into her
hand. "Well…." sputtered Jack, "Maybe
it's not complete nonsense."
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Daddy!" Lily yelled,
wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Look! They gave us directions
to get to the stores to buy the stuff.
It's in London. And we have to
be at the train on September first. Oh
Daddy, I'm so excited! I'm going to go
tell 'Tunia!"
"Jack, do you really think…?" Daisy just waved her hand at
the parchment he was still holding.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Guess we'll see, eh?"
*
Indeed they did.
Lily and her family followed the directions to the Leaky Cauldron and
Diagon Alley, and they found them, much to their surprise. The supplies on the list were bought (after
an interesting trip to Gringotts), and Lily was prepared to go to Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. On
September first, her family traveled to King's Cross together. When they finally realized where exactly
Platform Nine and Three-quarters was (they asked a family carrying a large owl
with them), they stood clustered together.
Daisy kept blotting her eyes, sad that her baby would be
leaving her. Petunia was jumping up and
down, excited for her sister, but also jealous, and trying to take in all the
sights. Jack, being the father that he
was, was just trying to calm everyone's nerves. Finally, a loud whistle sounded from the train.
"Well, Mama, looks like its time for me to go." Daisy blew her nose.
"Lily?" small Petunia asked.
"What is it?"
"Can I come too?"
"When you're eleven, I promise
you can be a witch too, ok?" Petunia
smiled, finally satisfied. "Well,
goodbye everyone, have a great term, and I'll see you at Christmas!" She kissed her family good bye, causing
Daisy more tears, than ran from the platform and jumped on the train, just as
it began to pull away. Lily ran to the
nearest compartment and stuck her head out the window.
"Goodbye!" she called, as she waved. "I'll miss you! Goodbye!" And those words
drifted off into the horizon with the train.
This is when Lily's life truly began. The moment her family looked as small as
ants, she turned and set off to find someone to talk with.
