A little known fact about Lily Evans: she was not, in fact the first magically inclined person in her family. She was simply the first to show signs of it in recent years after the split.
Lily Evans was the unknown descendant of the Hikari clan, a family that prided itself on creating and copying master-level works of art. Among them was their pride and joy, a mirror which was supposed to have it's own soul.
No one knows if it would have worked or not, because in the middle of the forbidden ceremony, their rivals the Niwa clan, who were master thieves and sealing experts, broke into the room and disrupted the ceremony.
And thus the four hundred year feud began. Ever since the Niwas stopped the ceremony, both clans had been given a curse of sorts.
One was given the spirit of Dark, who took the traits of the best the clan had to offer and became a thief who could use magic. He favored darker clothing and had the muscles of a natural gymnast. His back had a beautiful pair of raven colored wings, though the human side could manifest it as blood red.
The other was given the spirit Krad, who slowly became psychotic and bloodthirsty...with no remorse for those who carried his spirit. Krad favored brighter clothing and could easily be mistaken for an angel with his blond hair and white wings. Whether the human could manifest a pair on their own is still unclear.
Two sides, two souls.
Dark and Krad. Dark, who by all accounts was the kinder side, could only take hold of his host through the lighter emotions, particularly love. Krad, who was the colder side, could take control whenever the host showed a moment of weakness.
Still, the presence of either spirit in a host did have one rather unpleasant side effect.
Because of them, the birth rate in both clans dropped like a stone. And it wasn't because of the fact that the bodies housed two different souls. It was because of an indirect fact that in order to be rid of the souls, they had to find someone to love the host unconditionally. Something that was thwarted by the souls taking over whenever certain conditions were met.
At some point in time, the Hikari clan branched out. One side had high magic levels and Krad, the other had low magic levels but higher skill in the clan arts. When the rift became too wide, the clan split into two groups. The weaker magic levels slowly faded away and became Squibs, those born into magic families but are unable to use it. The stronger slowly dwindled away to a single pair of mother and son.
Likewise the Niwa clan split apart into two groups. One with magic and Dark, the other with higher spirit levels and better reflexes. The two would keep in contact, but the families eventually split into two different clans. Though the Niwa clan did occasionally send someone to the other family to take tests on their ability or, if the conditions were met to release Dark, marry back into it.
Lily Evans was the first in a long line of squibs who had enough magic to manifest Krad. However, the blood was still too thin for him to come out properly. The result of which caused her to have brief episodes of black outs where Krad influenced her. It was because of this that she was known to have a sporadic temper, not that her husband truly cared about it.
The only time Krad even came out of Lily Evans ne Potter was the night she died.
Voldemort, who had leveled his wand at Lily who was standing protectively over her son, watched as white wings enveloped the woman and revealed an annoyed blond man who wore a few crosses on his person. He was almost entirely decked out in white and gold...and upon looking into his eyes, Voldemort didn't even try to fool himself that this was a benevolent angel.
This man was pissed.
"Hmph. So the girl finally brings me out. I must say it has been a frustrating eleven years. You must be Voldemort...the one she was so worried about."
"And who the hell are you?"
"Who I am is none of your concern. All you need to know is that you have officially pissed me off. Even I don't go after children."
Which was true. In all the years Krad had been alive, he had never gone after children. He rarely manifested in those under ten, and even then it had to be an extreme case such as the bomb that nearly killed his host at the time during the war.
Voldemort glared at him.
"You have two options. Get lost or die."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you find out the hard way why I am feared by the rival clan..."
Voldemort didn't say a word to that...but instead leveled his wand at the angel-like being and cast the killing curse. Krad sneered at him before causing the spell to rebound on the deranged hypocrite. Voldemort was dead before he hit the floor.
Krad could tell his host was dying. There was very little time for her since she couldn't maintain his presence for a prolonged period of time, let alone the amount of power it took to cause the killing curse to rebound on the man.
So instead he checked on the infant who was watching with large green eyes.
"Something tells me you're going to manifest me faster than your mother did. At the very least I can give you some protection..." said Krad. Personally he liked kids, but his hosts often hated the fact he could control them and kick them to the back burner.
He gently brushed the black hair aside, and left what was left of the mother's magic inside the kid. At the very least it would give him a head start on learning how to handle Krad's particular magic. Not to mention when Lily learned of his plans, she quickly pushed some of her own magic.
The result of which was an odd lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Unknown to Krad, the odd ability he had to talk to any animal in their own language would later come to bite them both in the ass.
Three years after Krad's defeat of Voldemort and Dumbledore's first move...
The boy in Number 4 Privet Drive had no idea the odd scar on his head wasn't what everyone believed it to be. Many who knew of how Lily Potter had done something to save her son. The old man who left her child with her sister, who hated anything magic because her sister had inherited the family legacy and she didn't, believed the scar on his forehead was a remnant of the Dark Lord. A horcrux to be precise.
He was only half right on that account.
The child was barely four, but he looked half that due to malnutrition. His aunt was less than tolerant of his presence, and was not pleased that he would have to join her son in preschool soon. All he knew was that his family hated him...and they hated his unusual scar even more.
Today his uncle was going to hear about the big promotion.
When Vernon returned from work, he knew that not only did Vernon not get it, but his boss had probably called him out on something. Before he could hide from his angry uncle, the man backhanded him into the wall. Petunia heard the thump, but she was busy dealing with Dudley and thought Vernon had hit the table again. It wasn't until she heard the yelp of actual pain from her nephew that she realized what was going on.
She ran into the living room, horrified that Vernon was actually punching the boy.
While she didn't have any magic, she did know of the old tales of her family. During times of great stress, the old spirit would take over the body of the one who was in great danger of being killed.
Like her blasted nephew was at the moment. Before she could yell at him to stop, something snapped in the boy.
It was pretty obvious several ribs had been broken, and that his arm was in a great deal of pain. But still, he stood up and held up his broken arm.
Vernon hit a solid shield of magic. Petunia knew then that the worst possible thing had happened. Krad had awakened in her nephew.
Krad looked at the walrus with disgust.
"I knew the man was a fool, but harming a child because of something he didn't do is beyond what I tolerate. You should have told him Petunia Evans," said Krad.
Petunia shivered. It was bad enough Krad was fully awake...but if Vernon knew it came from her side of the family he would go ballistic.
Krad flexed the arm. Obviously he wasn't about to let his current host end up in the hospital because of Vernon. The broken bones mended quickly and properly. Krad frowned and the sound of shattered glass was heard.
"I'll have to speak to the old one... No child should have those spells placed on them..."
"Old one?" asked Petunia faintly.
"I don't know who the old man who left the child on the doorstep is, but when I find him he will pay. Blood wards are not an acceptable excuse for leaving him in your care. I would have slept for even longer, but your...husband...forced my hand. So what will you do Petunia? Will you try to redeem yourself before you face your sister or will you allow yourself to descend into hell?"
Petunia thought over her options. Krad would not allow any further abuse, that much was certain. However, she couldn't predict how Vernon would react to the fact that Dudley might show signs of magic. Or the fact she knew there was an ancient spirit who watched over her family.
She would never allow the man to harm her son. No matter how much she hated Lily, there wasn't a chance in hell she was going to anger Krad.
She picked up the phone and called the cops. Ten minutes later they were taking her nephew to the hospital to treat for bone fractures and several bruises. Krad had returned to his more dormant state. He had done his job and insured his new host wouldn't be killed by the fat man.
Only time would tell if Petunia would clean up her act.
Harry, age eight, four years since Krad awakened partially...
"Get up!" yelled Petunia. Harry was up and at 'em long before she yelled at the boys. With the arrest of Vernon for child abuse and endangerment, his aunt had to move them from Surrey. Fortunately, she still had the titles to a small house in Spooner's End that had belonged to her parents. While it wasn't the most cheerful of places for children, it was still better than to stay in the house with all the memories in it.
Plus there was something else in that town that could hopefully give Krad a reason not to kill her when he fully awakened. She had heard tales of his temper towards adults, and she didn't want him to turn it against her if she could help it.
Luckily with the removal of Vernon and the divorce, Krad had yet to make another appearance. It seemed he was content to sleep until Harry's magical core could properly handle the strain of him being active.
At the very least, his awakening did do one very odd thing. It unlocked something that had been covered. From what Petunia remembered of that day, it was most likely Dumbledore's doing. Clearly he had meddled in more than just their lives. He had tried to do something to her nephew.
And she knew he had done something to cause animosity towards Harry. Yes, she hated her sister, but even she wasn't depraved enough to starve a child or beat him like Vernon had tried to do.
Perhaps Krad would be willing to tell her.
Petunia handed Harry his breakfast, he hated greasy foods. Dudley came down reluctantly. Four years had created a large change in the boy, one of which was that he no longer resembled a small pig. It didn't hurt that Vernon's sister no longer came over to bother them.
It seemed drunks ran in the family as well as nasty mean streaks.
"What's on the schedule today, Aunt Petunia?"
"Normally I would say school, but there is someone I want you to met. Dudley, you can go see your little friends if you wish but I want you back no later than six. Am I clear?"
"Yes mum..." said Dudley sullenly. One of the many things that had changed was that Petunia no longer allowed him to act like a spoiled brat. He had to help Harry with the chores and actually do his homework.
Once Harry had finished his breakfast, Dudley went off to see his friends. Petunia led Harry to the lone tower that was a mile from their house.
Harry's eyes widened. He had heard stories from the other children about the tower...and how a vampire lived in it. For some reason though, no one could ever see the vampire during the school months.
Petunia walked right up to the door and knocked. She heard a rather strong curse as the door opened. Harry could easily see why the neighboring children thought he was a vampire. The outfit and pale skin really didn't help.
"Petunia. I thought you lived in Surrey," he said with irritation.
"I moved back. I had to to keep Vernon far away from me and my son."
The man looked at the child, and Harry could see both anger...and sorrow.
"Why did you come here?"
"I need to make sure he is prepared for your world. The magic Lily had from our family has already acted out and I don't want him to end up dead because he was unable to control it. And I don't want that Ministry of yours knocking on my door because of his power."
"What in blazes are you talking about woman?"
"Lily isn't the first magic user in our family. She's just the strongest."
The man's eyes widened, and he allowed them in. Petunia held her tongue about the clear magic in the house.
Harry was allowed to read some of the books in the study so long as he didn't make a mess of things. By the time Petunia came back, he was halfway through a book on what were known as potions. It was one that was fairly simple for beginners and it had looked rather interesting.
"Harry, I want you to come by here for the rest of the summer. Severus has agreed to teach you a few control exercises so we don't have any more...accidents...in the house."
"Can he teach me how to cook like in this book?" he asked curiously.
"It's called potions, and I'll teach you once I have a firm grasp of how strong your magic is," said the man.
Harry's eyes lit up. He loved to cook and paint, and his aunt didn't discourage him from it.