A/N- Short? Yep. Pivotal? Uh-huh. The final part of a rearranged three-piece prologue? You betcha. But don't worry, next chapter the fun starts… … … ; )
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THE LAST HAPPY BUTTERFLY
Prologue Part Three: Eight Years Later
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It was Harry's ninth birthday. Sirius had inherited the Black Manor at the time of his mother's death, and had been living there with the children for the last three years.
This change of venue had brought about several changes.
First, now that he owned a private indoor Quidditch Pitch again, both kids learned to play. It turned out that Harry was as natural on the broom as Prongs had been. Alex, a phenomenal Keeper, though, always managed to anticipate the quaffle and in three years of playing had missed seven shots. The two were insanely close, treating each other and brother and sister, constantly finishing the other's sentence and revealing information that only the other had been told.
Next was that, thanks to Sirius' father's paranoia, they could train as hard as they wanted without fear of detection by the Ministry.
Most importantly though, and the part that had caused Sirius to dance around the room in joy, was the return of a house-elf to Sirius' life.
Kreacher's presence had translated directly to: No more cooking.
In the mean time, the Wizarding world had continued on. The miraculous Boy-Who-Lived wouldn't give interviews, the Black Manor was well hidden, and above all, Voldemort was still gone. A quiet sort of contentment had descended on the world, and Sirius had been caught up in it.
Which was why Harry's birthday unfolded the way it had.
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The amount of ice cream consumed by one Harry Potter was roughly enough to feed the population of Lithuania. He had starved himself the day before to 'have more room.' Needless to say, the ice cream fetish had yet to die.
There was a knock on the door. Sirius went to open it, and that was when hell broke loose.
Death Eaters led by none other than Voldemort himself swept inside, knocking Sirius out of the way and heading directly for the dining room. Sirius was placed in a full body bind, and forced to watch. The tortures they inflicted on two small children—no, some things are better left unsaid.
They survived though, whether by power or plan or sheer will, they survived.
Harry ended it.
One of the Death Eaters stepped away from Harry and towards Alex. She had been drugged, and could barely resist their actions. The Death Eater lifted a knife, which was the last thing he ever did. Harry's eyes widened, his body tensed, he screamed and a blast of pure energy flooded the room. Voldemort fell back, the Death Eaters collapsed, Sirius was released. The man who had tried to attack Alex fell forward though, against all odds, and the knife fell with him. Silently, the blade slipped into her chest. She was already unconscious, and made no reaction. Voldemort rose from the ground, and for a few minutes the Dark Lord and the Boy-who-lived met eyes.
Nothing was said at first, but Voldemort hissed one last thing before vanishing. Parseltongue. "We will meet again one day, and I will prevail."
Death Eaters began to wake up, and disapparated immediately. Sirius didn't have the energy to stop them. Neither did Harry. Both children were unconscious.
Sirius crawled towards the last Death Eater, already suspecting who it would be, and found his theory proven correct.
Severus Snape woke painfully, and sneered at who was beside him.
"Do you remember what happened eight years ago?" Sirius whispered.
"Yes."
"Good, because I'm calling that debt."
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"She is his weakness so I can't allow her near him." Sirius said as he fell into a chair. Harry was asleep from magical exhaustion. Alex was asleep from blood-loss and the healing. He and Severus were seated in the parlor of all places, trying to develop of a rational plan.
"What am I supposed to do?"
"You were the last of the Death Eaters left. Tomorrow morning I will release a statement that I awoke and killed you. I will create a simulacrum, have it publicly abused and then buried. You will take Alex, you will change your appearance, adopt a new name, and disappear. To all the world you will both be dead. I will know otherwise. She will think we are dead. You will train her to fight. Eventually they will meet again, but think that is a long ways away."
"Will he know that she is alive?"
"No. As far as he knows she died from that knife, and I want to keep it that way. It's safer. I need to be told what your new identity will be. I will create a Gringotts account and will transfer enough gold to support you both. Immediately after that Harry and I will disappear as well."
"You certainly know how to call a debt, Black."
"Is it agreed?"
"This will fulfill the debt entirely?"
"Yes."
"Then it is agreed."
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YOU-KNOW-WHO RETURNS!
In a terrifying attack on the Black Manor where Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived resides, he-who-must-not-be-named has made his return known. He brought a dozen Death Eaters with him according to the account of Sirius Black. In the attack, young Harry released a magical attack that drove back his enemies, but that also drained him severely. He was thereby unable to make a statement.
When Black awoke, it was to find only one Death Eater remaining. Severus Snape, previously the Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was killed by Black, and given a peasant's burial this morning.
Newly elected Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge announced the following statement.
"We will not stand idly by and allow a second rising of this brutal and disgusting power. We will stand firmly behind young Harry Potter, and all those who oppose him will be greeted with a fierce backlash."
Emergency packets and pamphlets are being distributed via the Ministry of Defense, they may be picked up at your local Magical Center after a brief questioning under Veritaserum.
Severus Snape looked down at the paper and sneered. "The exodus begins…"
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