Chapter 18 ~ The New Beginning
"You can't be," Harry exclaimed, "My mother married my father."
"Just because she was married to the man that you think is your father doesn't mean she couldn't have a bit of fun with me," Voldemort exclaimed.
"She wouldn't! She was in love with my father!"
"Oh, would you stop calling James Potter your father already? Only Dumbledore, Wormtail, your mother and I know the truth about you, Harry and I am going to tell it to you from the beginning.
"It all started when I was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron under a different identity. Lilly walked in late that night on her way home from Diagon Alley where she had been shopping all day. I was quite taken by her. The air of her, her looks – you can say that I fell in love that night.
"'Mind if a lonely soul takes a seat,' I asked, flashing her an innocent smile.
"She looked up at me and smiled back, 'Join the club.'
"I looked at her, surprised, 'Now, how could a beautiful woman like you be lonely?'
"I turned out that she had a fight with James earlier that day and had gone to Diagon Alley to get away from it all. We did a bit of talking. I told her that my name was Marvolo Gromwell. A few hours and several drinks later, she said that she needed to go home. She was rather intoxicated by that point.
"'I cant let you do that in this state, my dear,' I said to her, 'The Dark Lord is out there. You could be killed.'
"After a bit of persuading, she got a room upstairs. I walked her up to her room and placed her stuff beside her bed. In a matter of no time at all, I had seduced her.
"Since that night, I had kept a close eye on her. I found out everything I could about her. Little did I know, that if I had gotten her pregnant that night, you would be a prophecy. The true Heir of Slytherin, the true Heir to my throne. She didn't know this and I didn't want to believe it when I read it, but Lilly was of Salazar Slytherin heritage and the Heiress to Salazar's throne. I knew that with my power and our heritage, the outcome would be great."
"My mother was in Gryffindor," Harry managed to say as he still sat there on the ground.
"Yes, but like you, she asked to be put in that house. She didn't want to surrender to the fact that her destiny lied in Slytherin.
"Soon, you were born. You looked a lot like James, but had Lilly's green eyes. If you didn't know, James and I looked fairly similar when we went to Hogwarts. Different generations, yes, but we still looked the same. I don't know if you realized this, but you look more like young, schoolboy Tom Riddle than you do James Potter. You have a lot of my personality traits as well, including Parseltongue, which you did not inherit when I hit you with that spell…you have had that since you were born.
"It took me over a year, but I finally decided to go to Godric's Hollow and claim you. It was a shame that Lilly told Dumbledore about you and forced him to put you into hiding. It was wonderful that James trusted Pettigrew with his secret. Wormtail told me where your mum was hiding and I went there.
"I walked up to the front window of the house. I could hear Lilly and James arguing. No doubt, she had just broken the news to him. I unlocked the door and walked in.
"'It seems as tough this might be a bad time to claim what is mine,' I said.
"James boldly stood up to me as Lilly ran up to your room to fetch you and make a run for it. Once I had killed James, I went up to the room.
"'It is no use now, Lilly,' I warned, 'The three of us together can rule. You, me and our son, Harry Riddle.'
"'No,' she exclaimed, holding you close, 'I told you time and time again that I wont hand him over! You will have to kill me first, but please, not Harry!'
"'Silly girl, step aside! Let me have the boy!'
"'No,' she screamed.
"I killed her right then. It was a mistake. I saw you sitting on the floor of your nursery and realized that I wouldn't be able to care for you. Therefore, I left you, but not before I left my mark. I knew that I had been defeated until I could claim you again.
"Here we are now, Harry, face to face, once again. Will you join your father and your sister? Join your Death Eaters? Join your true family and claim your throne?"
Harry looked up at Voldemort. He was quivering. The information that he had just received was unbelievable. Everything fit together so perfectly. However, was it too perfectly? At this point in his life, the only thing he had that was truly noble to him was Anistasia. He looked up at Anistasia, who was still holding him in her arms.
"Will you come with me," he asked.
Anistasia's face scrunched up in a confused look, "What kind of dumb question is that? Of course I'll come with you, no matter what path you chose."
No matter what path you chose…the words rang in Harry's head for a moment and he realized that this was the destiny meant for the both of them.
"Lord Voldemort, I will join your side under one condition – you have to take Anistasia as well, for she is my love and I will not leave her behind," Harry said.
"Very well, then," Voldemort exclaimed, "Step up here, the both of you."
"What are you doing," Ron exclaimed as they picked themselves up from the ground and approached Voldemort.
"I am joining my family, Ron. The only family I have left."
"He isn't your family! He is lying to you! Don't you see, Harry? He just wants you for your power."
"Then so be it. I have made my decision and I am not turning back on it," Harry replied.
Voldemort's slit for a mouth twisted into a wry smile, "Roll up the left sleeve of your robes, boy."
Harry did as he was told and Voldemort placed the tip of his wand above Harry's elbow. In Parseltongue, he breathed, "Morsmordre." The Dark Mark, a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth, was shining vivid red upon Harry's skin. Harry winced a bit at the pain of the mark burning into his skin. Once the mark cooled off and turned black, Harry ran his hand across it, smiling.
"How do you feel, son," Voldemort asked.
Harry looked up, "Wonderful."
Voldemort laughed evilly and exclaimed, "Welcome to the Dark side. Your loyalty to us will be more than rewarded."
A pack of Death Eaters entered the clearing as though they were summoned by the addition of the new member. Voldemort turned to them.
"Lower your hoods, take off your masks and bow to the heir of my throne," he ordered.
They did as they were told. Harry looked around at them. Everyone that witnessed Voldemort's rebirth was there: Malfoy, Avery, Crabe…all of them.
"Now I will bring into our circle another young member who will become our queen, soon enough. Willow, step forward and roll up the sleeve of your robes."
"Yes, Lord," she replied as she did what Harry had done before.
"Morsmordre," Voldemort said in Parseltongue for the second time that night.
The Dark Mark burned a vivid red color on Anistasia's skin. She fell to her knees as, for the first time, she felt the power of Lord Voldemort surge through her body. Harry knelt beside her as she had done when he felt pain.
"Anistasia, are you okay?"
Anistasia's green eyes flashed red as she looked up at Harry, "I feel better than okay. I feel powerful…"
"Welcome, princess, to your kingdom. We do not rule now, but one day, we will. Mark my words, we will," Harry assured her, "In Madam Hooch's words, we are an unstoppable pair, on and off the Quidditch field."
Anistasia smiled and Harry helped her up as Voldemort called on his next Death Eater.
"Malfoy, step forward. Join your father and become the great Death Eater you were destined to be," Voldemort ordered, "Like father, like son."
Draco stepped forward. Lucius looked up. The reflection of his son walking up to Voldemort could be seen in his gray eyes. Draco handed his left arm to Voldemort and he made the same hissing noise that he had two times earlier. The Dark Mark, for the third time that night, shone red upon a new Death Eater's arm. Once the mark cooled, Lucius spoke.
"You make me proud, son," he said quietly.
Draco joined the circle beside his father and Voldemort turned to Ron who was still holding onto Hermione's cold, lifeless body.
"Weasley, are you going to join your friends," Voldemort hissed.
"No," Ron replied as he looked up to Voldemort with a tear stained face, "I refuse to join your side and serve in something I don't believe in."
"Have it your way, then," Voldemort said, "Harry, give me your wand."
Harry did as his father said, without question and, in return, Voldemort gave Harry his wand, "Your first duty as Death Eater is to kill him."
Ron stood and looked into Harry's cold, green eyes, "Harry, you wouldn't."
"You should have joined us, Ron. There is a future here for you. I could get you and your family riches – your father would never have to struggle at the Ministry again," Harry informed him, "Just say the word."
"That is not you talking, Harry. The Harry I know vowed that he would never join Voldemort. He fights for what is right and good -----"
"Obviously you knew a different Harry."
"Obviously, I did," Ron replied.
Harry lifted his wand, "I hope you believe you made the right choice."
"Harry, I am your best friend," Ron yelled, "What are you doing? You are letting Voldemort control you. Listen, this is wrong!"
"If this is so wrong, why does it feel so right," Harry asked.
"Enough with the talk," Voldemort said, "You have let him live long enough. Finish your duty!"
"Harry, please…"
"Avada Kedavra," Harry said.
Harry felt a power go through him that he had never before as the wand emitted a green light. In an instant, Ron was dead. As Harry lowered the wand, Voldemort placed a hand on Harry's shoulder.
"I am pleased, son."
Harry and Voldemort traded wands and Voldemort spoke to the three new Death Eaters.
"Go back to Hogwarts. I will see you in the summer. Tell no one about your new loyalties. Put on your most grave face and take these two back to Dumbledore. Make up a story. You know how to act innocent still, I hope. You will need that to get through the last years of your schooling. Chris, lead your brother and new Death Eaters back to the Pitch. I will see you sooner than you think."
Chris cast a levitating spell on the bodies of Ron and Hermione as Harry, Ani and Draco followed her back to the Pitch. The four of them made sure that they crying so they could put on their little act for anyone who saw them. They walked out of the woods and started up to the Pitch. As was expected, there was no more Death eaters, no more screaming and no more chaos. All was quiet except for the occasional sounds of sobbing. The Pitch looked like a battlefield, though less bloody. There were dead bodies lying everywhere and people mourning over them.
"Ms. Riddle," Professor wall asked as she ran up to them, "Mr. Potter? What happened? Where have you all been?"
"I led them into the woods, hoping to find safety from the events in the Pitch," Chris explained, "The locker room entrance was blocked and we had to get away from the Death Eaters quickly. Ron and Hermione fell behind and were separated from the rest of us. We called for them, trying to find then. When we finally did, it was too late. They had been killed."
Professor Wall looked at the bodies and nodded. She led the group to the school and to the infirmary. There were several more people there. Some injured, some on the brink of death and some lifeless and cold. Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore were in the room and walked over to the group when they saw them walk in.
"You all gave us quite a scare," McGonagall exclaimed, "Are you all okay?"
"Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger," Headmaster Dumbledore mumbled, "They were fine Gryffindors – true spirits of Hogwarts."
For the first time, Professor McGonagall noticed the two levitating bodies. She began to weep. Dumbledore put and arm around her shoulder.
"There, there, Minerva."
The two bodies were put into empty beds and a white sheet placed over them. Professor Wall went to get the Weasleys and Dumbledore turned to Harry.
"Harry, may I see you over here for a moment?"
Harry walked with Dumbledore to another part of the room and Dumbledore explained, "Harry, I am afraid I have some bad news. Sirius was caught in his attempts to kill off some of the Death Eaters. He will be given the Dementor's Kiss at dawn."
Silent tears streamed down Harry's face as he walked back to Anistasia. He told her what happened and she embraced him.
"I trust that none of you have been harmed," Dumbledore said to the rest of them.
"No, sir," Draco replied.
Dumbledore nodded, "We will be leaving for Hogwarts in the morning. The rest of the tournament has been canceled."
The four of them began to go to the dormitories, but Harry and Anistasia walked out onto the courtyard and sat on a bench. The talked and held each other as they watched the sun come up, blood red in the sky and mourned for Sirius.
It was the last day of school. The attack on Hogwarts by the giants never happened. It was a hoax, thought up by Voldemort and followed through by Lucius Malfoy to keep Dumbledore from being at South Gravewitch. All of the exams had been finished the day before and today was a day of remembrance. Anistasia and Harry were walking out of Gryffindor Tower when Godric walked up to them.
"Harry," Godric said, "Professor Dumbledore would like to see you before the ceremony."
Harry nodded, kissed Anistasia and followed Gryffindor to Albus' office. Harry and Godric reached the oak door to Dumbledore's office as the stone gargoyle noisily slid back into place. Godric opened the door to the office and Harry walked in first. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, obviously waiting for Harry. Dumbledore lowered his hands and surveyed his through his half-moon glasses.
"It is time," he said, "for me to tell you what I should have told you five years ago, Harry. Please sit down. I am going to tell you everything."
Harry sat down in a chair in front of the desk and Godric sat in a chair beside him. There was a moment of almost deafening silence before the headmaster began.
"There is so much that I have to tell you – so much you have to know…I don't know where I should begin. However, I must tell you that Mr. Christian Whitford is not who you think he is. The man sitting beside you is Godric Gryffindor, one of the Hogwarts Four."
Harry blinked and looked at Gryffindor, "You created this school over a thousand years ago?"
Godric nodded, "Mr. Potter, yes, I did help create this school. For the past nine hundred plus years, I have been Fawkes, the phoenix. I created the Order of the Phoenix, which is a group of twelve wizards sworn to protect the world from Lord Voldemort."
Harry, who knew all of this, just nodded and allowed Gryffindor and Dumbledore to tell their story.
"Now, Harry," the Headmaster began, "I must tell you about your mother and father. You must understand and know what they were like prior to their death and why, you, Harry, are very special.
"It all begins in 1961, the first year your parents attended Hogwarts. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Lilly Evans became instant friends and were all sorted into Gryffindor. However, the Sorting Hat wanted to put Lilly into Slytherin. Do you have any idea why, Mr. Potter?"
Harry stared unblinkingly at Dumbledore, "She was the heiress of Slytherin, as Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin. They were the king and queen of Salazar's throne."
"How do you know this," Gryffindor demanded.
Harry failed to reply. His right hand unconsciously found its way to his left upper arm and sat atop the Dark Mark, hidden by his robes. Dumbledore, needing no explanation, continued.
"You are absolutely correct, Harry," he said, "Though, that will come of importance once we cover a few more things. Lilly spent her Hogwarts career attached to James by super glue – I witnessed this binding on several occasions myself – and in their fifth year, James asked Lilly to marry him. Of course, she accepted, and they were married not a week after they graduated from here.
"They found a house in Godric's Hollow and settled there. One afternoon, the two of them had a fight. As Lilly told me, she went to Diagon Alley to get some shopping done. That night, she stopped in the Leaky Cauldron on her way home. A man walked up to her and introduced himself as Marvolo Gromwell. Lilly wasn't stupid – she knew from the beginning that he was Lord Voldemort, however, she didn't tell him she knew that. After the two of them had talked and had a few drinks, he urged her to get a room at the Leaky Cauldron. He took her up to her room and…and they made love. Lilly did it out of anger towards James – Voldemort did it for a heir."
Harry sat back. Voldemort told him this before. Why was he sitting through it again? Dumbledore saw that there was no expression on Harry's face, so he continued.
"You were born nine months later. James believed that you were his son, but Lilly knew differently. As the months went on, Lilly saw that you were a prophecy. The Prince of Slytherin – the result of the king and queen. She prayed that your real father would not come to claim you; that he had forgotten about that night in the Leaky Cauldron and that James would not have to find out the terrible truth. However, Voldemort confronted her in Diagon Alley, one day in early October of 1981. He told her that she was destined to join him with their son. He assured her that they would rule the earth. Lilly hastily declined and Voldemort promised that he would not fail to get his son.
"That is when she came to me and I called James in. Lilly told him everything. He wasn't pleased, though he still loved her and you. I hid them and Peter Pettigrew was their secret keeper. However, he turned them in to Voldemort on October 31. The rest, you have heard several times, and there is no point in repeating it."
Harry nodded, "So…Voldemort is my father and I am the Prince of Slytherin. James Potter isn't my father and Voldemort wants me to help him take over the world? He never wanted to kill me?"
"Yes, Harry. All of that is true," the headmaster replied.
Harry bowed his head and acted innocently – like this was s hock to him. Inside, however, he was grinning.
The school sat in the Great Hall which was decked out in Gryffindor flags as oppose to Slytherin, who won the house cup. They had all agreed that this was appropriate and decorated the hall accordingly. In front of the Head Table there were two reefs of red and gold roses, a picture of Ron in the middle of one and Hermione in the other. Headmaster Dumbledore stood at the head of the hall and cleared his throat.
"Over a month ago, Hogwarts lost two students: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, to the mercy of Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort."
He continued to talk and Harry gazed at the picture of Ron. He was Harry's first true friend and he had killed him. He hugged Anistasia tighter, who was silently crying, listening to Dumbledore's wise words.
"At this time, I would like to as Mr. Potter to come up. He knew the two of them since their first day at Hogwarts and you could hardly ever catch this trio parted. Please, put your hands together, respectfully, for Harry Potter."
Harry's stomach lurched as he stood, holding the roll of parchment that had his speech printed on it. He had spent all night trying to get it together. Harry made his way to the front and faced his classmates.
"Ron and Hermione were truly wonderful friends. Through the past five years we have been through good times and bad, fights and celebrations, making trouble and preventing trouble," Harry began,
"Ron Weasley wasn't much of an adventurer, but he followed me wherever I needed him, no matter how stupid my plans were. He wasn't outgoing and kept to himself a lot, but could he ever play a mean game of Wizard's Chess! He was unstoppable at this game and found it to be his biggest talent. With five older brothers that were unique and in the spotlight at several points in their lives, Ron looked up to them and tried to live up to those standards. He wanted to be known for something great like his brothers, something that his parents could be proud of. Whether he realized it or not, his parents were proud of him. He was a great wizard and a loyal friend.
"Hermione was the brain of the trio. She knew her magic well. If either Ron or I needed to know something, we went to her and she would know it. If she didn't know it, she knew just where to find it and would hurry off the library. She helped me with my Summoning Charm when I needed to use it for the first task of the Triwizard Tournament last year.
"They were both true companions to me. If it wasn't for them, I would, truthfully, be dead myself right now and this school would have been blown to pieces. On the night before their deaths, they confessed their love for each other in the highest room in the East Tower of South Gravewitch School of Magic. They were meant to be together.
"Through their deaths, I am not alone. This year, Anistasia Willow came to Hogwarts and joined our group. She fit in perfectly. I never got a moments peace from then on, but it is fine with me. She is a true companion. This might seem a bit off subject and out of place right now, but I cannot keep quiet any longer. Anistasia and I are engaged. We don't know when we are going to officially tie the knot, but it will be after we finish our schooling here at Hogwarts. Thank you for listening and may Ronald and Hermione rest in peace."
Harry walked to the Gryffindor table and took his seat again beside Anistasia. Fred and George patted him on the back and Ginny gave him a kiss on the cheek. Professor Willow looked stunned. It was obvious that Anistasia hadn't broken the news to her mother yet. Dumbledore took the floor once again.
"That was a wonderful bit of news," Dumbledore exclaimed, "Congratulations to the both of you. At this time ----"
Headmaster, if I could interrupt you for just a moment," Professor Snape began and all eyes turned on him, "I would like, at this time, to get something off of my chest."
He stood, pulled something out of the pocket of his robes and kneeled on one knee beside Professor Wall.
"Lauren wall, will you make me the happiest man alive and do me the honor of giving me your hand in marriage," he asked her.
Tears began streaming down Professor Wall's face. She managed to nod as Professor Snape slipped a ring on her finger. The Hall burst into applause. Dumbledore soon quieted them.
"If everyone at this time would raise their goblets, I would like to make a toast to Ron and Hermione: may they rest in peace, and to our new fiancés, Lauren and Severus Snape and Anistasia and Harry Potter!"
The hall drank to that has Harry whispered for only Anistasia to hear:
"To the new beginning."
